*waves*
Yup... still here... just busy, and DISTRACTED BY THE FACT THAT carawj IS MY GIRLFRIEND ZOMG.
Um... yeah.
Work is boring, I am tired, but life is good!
Anyone see the Dalek that got pulled out of the bog today?
And should I get a haircut?
And, I renewed my paid account at last, and it turns out I have space for like 109 icons, but I deleted all of mine while I was on basic account to make room for a Bonnie icon... so... what icons should I have?

So, carawj and I started a community all about Bonnie Langford:

bonnielangford

Because she's a terrific performer and lovely and awesome and there wasn't one already!
So please, if you're a fan of Bonnie for her singing, acting, dancing or skating, join up! It'll be fun, I promise!

Well, everyone else is doing it... and I wasn't going to, but I was told to. :P
So, without further ado:

( 25 Possibly Slightly Interesting Things About Me... )

Yes, I suck at updating/keeping in touch/the works. I will update properly sometime but today is not the day.
However, if you give me a fandom and a prompt (a pairing, a word, whatever) I'll write you a drabble! Available to all comers!

A few brief messages:
seti_fan - Your parcel arrived but I won't be at my Dad's for another couple of weeks, I'll pick it up then! Thank you a million! One is winging its way to you!
penguin2 - I miss you! Hugs!
ladyvivien - You = Awesome

So, I had a really boring day at work, and I was all cross because I had a sore throat, and no money to buy lunch with, and it's cold where I sit, and all these silly things.
But I was quite looking forward to going to see Mandy Patinkin in concert with sashavangenius this evening. So I was glad when work was over, and I went to Leicester Square to meet Sash, and we went to collect our tickets from the box office, and then went outside to work out what to do until the show, and coming out right behind us was only ELISABETH FREAKIN' SLADEN. I was stunned! Then she went past, and I flailed like an idiot to Sash...
We saw her a couple of times over the course of the evening, but I was a bit too shy to say anything, plus she was on an evening out and I didn't want to be pushy, especially since I've already met her at a few events. It was different the time with David Tennant because he doesn't ever do conventions, so I knew I had to seize my chance! (Incidentally, that was in the very same theatre, the Duke of York's! Spooky, eh? Next time I go there, I'll be disappointed if I don't see one of my favourite Doctor Who stars!)
So that was exciting, and it was a good concert anyway, and Sash got her Sunday in the Park DVD signed by Mandy Patinkin at the stage door afterwards, so we were both happy.
And then, when I got home, my new Bonnie Langford CD was waiting for me, even though it wasn't supposed to be delivered until mid-February. Hooray!

1. OMG, how hot was Penelope Wilton back in the day? http://community.livejournal.com/dw_daily/16860.html
2. Yesterday was the Sarah Jane gang trip to the panto - the Sladen herself was magnificent, the rest of the show was... well, I've trashed it here: http://girladventurer.blogspot.com/2009/01/peter-pan-comparison.html Although actually I don't like some of the sentences in there, I might go back and edit... Anyway, the show wasn't much cop but I still had an awesome day!
3. Colin Baker should drag up more often. Not that I like it or anything.
4. I've had a weird sore throat for over a week now, and I'm starting to wonder if it might be tonsilitis or something.
5. Weekends are much too short.
6. Mum Update: She's finished with chemo for now, which is nice. She's on some hormone treatment that makes her legs act weird but is otherwise much easier, apparently. So we're waiting to see how that goes but it sounds like her doctors are quite pleased with her progress.
7. Must remember to give blood. Ooh, but if this sore throat is actually something, I might not be allowed... Well... I'll leave this sentence anyway to remind me later.
8. I need a Bonnie icon! It's ridiculous that I don't already have one.
9. Going to see Mandy Patinkin in concert on Tuesday, Sash got tickets! But aargh, it clashes with my piano lesson! Oops...
10. There is no number ten.

1. Sorry for long absence and rubbishness! Soon I shall catch up - I owe lots of people comments and long emails, and you shall get them!
2. Work very good but hardcore! The girl who usually does BBC2 isn't in this week, so I've been doing loads of her stuff. Good for me! Also, got shouted at by a BBC scheduler today! I feel I'm going up in the world. It totally wasn't my fault, though.
3. Commute is killing me slowly. Especially waiting in the cold at Acton Town for the horrible, mean District Line. Can't quite believe that I am daily spending three hours on the tube.
4. New Year was great. Went to bunnyvon's. It was really great to see all the girls and hang out over the holiday. Miss you guys!
5. Saw Bonnie Langford in panto on Monday with carawj. OMG!! It was so thrilling! We went to the stage door and I took Jazz at the Theatre to get signed, but when Bonnie mentioned it I just stood there like a freak instead of telling her how I've been listening to it non-stop since Sash got it me for Christmas. I am such a dork. And I'm usually quite calm in the presence of awesomeness.
6. Going to see La Sladen in panto on Sat! Exciting! Both this and the Langford panto are Peter Pan, so carawj and I will be in a good position to compare...
7. Found a sandwich shop near work that does a cheese ploughman's on white!! That's it, I can never leave Ealing now.
8. Have been salivating over shelves and sofa beds on the Ikea website. Watch this space for pictures of my shiny new room, come payday.
9. Having my first proper piano lesson on Tuesday evening! Yay!
10. I want pie.

( Grumbling )

( Pleasantness )

In about two weeks time, I will be even more similar to Sarah Jane Smith than I already am...
Yes, apart from being quite short, sarcastic and afraid of heights, I now have a writing job in Ealing, and make a living from the BBC!

Yes! I got that awesome job!!
Ok, so writing TV listings for EPG and iPlayer isn't quite the same as being a journalist. And I won't actually be directly working for the BBC, but for another company that works for them, but I will still be writing exclusively BBC listings, so it's almost the same.
I can't believe I'm going to be able to say that I work in TV! And that I make a living out of writing. Ok, so, it's not in production, and it's really more editing and proofing and summarising than real writing, but still. It's a really good start!
I've been waiting on tenterhooks all week, and they finally called me last night, just as I was on my way in to work at the theatre, so I didn't have time to squee to anyone about it!! And then I was on the downstairs bar by myself, and the crowd was one of those annoying ones that won't leave even when you put all the lights on and start really obviously clearing everything up...
So it was quite late by the time I got out, but Justin said I could have a free drink upstairs, and there were still a few staff round who'd been on the upstairs bars, so I had a glass of wine to be sociable... And then Kayleigh got another pint, so I got another glass of wine... and then another...
I came home on the night bus at about three. Kayleigh, Lorraine and Justin were still going strong when I left. And now I'm up for work and I still feel kind of a bit drunk... And I've got to go into the office and tell them I'm quitting...
Have a nice weekend, everybody!

Yes, I've seen the Christmas Coca Cola advert! And as everyone who grew up in the 90s knows, that's how you can tell that it really is nearly Christmas. Which means it must be time for my usual Christmas Wishlist!

Dear Father Christmas,

I would like:

* Theatre tokens and book tokens
* To be published, somewhere
* Something approaching financial stability
* For Bonnie Langford and Annette McLaughlin to appear in Chicago together. Or for Bonnie to just do Chicago again full-stop. Or, failing that, anything else involving Bonnie!
* A sofa
* A million more seasons of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
* Lots of pie
* To go back to Kitezh next year, and maybe to Australia again, and the US
* Health, wealth and happiness for all of my loved ones. I know it's cheesy, but it's true!

Stuff in my head:

* Happy birthday Els! Hope you had a wicked time.
* Urgh I feel so ill. I've been trying to shake off this horrible cold all week, and I just feel so drained and limp and fuzzy. Had a funny turn on the tube this morning, the Piccadilly line is very airless. I know that it's my own fault really for working too much and eating rubbish at stupid times of day. Day off tomorrow. I think I shall have a long lie-in and just lounge around the house. Maybe tidy my room a bit. I rearranged it and it looks good, but very messy.
* On Wednesday I interviewed for an amazing job. I should hear this week. Please cross your fingers for me if you have a second to!
* Today was the Elisabeth Sladen, Tommy Knight, Daniel Anthony signing at Borders! It was a terrific day. I did badges! There was food! I gave The Sladen a letter that some of my Kitezh kids wrote her. Other cool stuff. Possibly longer post later.
* Really missing Kitezh lately, actually. Feeling a bit emotional about it.
* I am sort of worried about Christmas. Fear it will be all forced jollity and people going off to cry in corners. Also, I have no money for presents.
* I don't like having two jobs. It makes me feel like I'm always rushing. Again... hope I get this one I interviewed for t'other day. It's in Ealing! Which, shockingly, looks nothing like TV-Ealing, since TV-Ealing is actually Cardiff...
* Oh self, stop moaning! You live in London, you have your own (small) steady(ish) income, your friends are great, the SJA is on every Monday, and your hair is cool. Blessings. Count 'em.
* In fact, self, why are you still up? It's half three! Being crazy-wired for no apparent reason is not a good enough excuse.
* Love and hugs to Penguins and associated persons!

( Of interest only to Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman fans... )

Had a very full few days!

1. On Friday, Sash and I went to a Q&A with Joanna Lumley. Oh my gosh, she is so cool. I mean, I always liked her as an actor, and I really respect all the stuff she's doing for the gurkhas, but oh, in person, she's so marvellous! Very friendly and sweet, full of useful advice for the actors who made up most of the audience, absolutely hilarious and an excellent speaker all round.
2. The act at work this weekend was a guy called Hans Teeuwen, a Dutch comedian. He's not quite like anything I've ever seen before, and he's terrific. There are some clips of him on YouTube but they're mostly in Dutch, unfortunately for me!
3. Thinking of spending a couple of days in Wales this weekend. Which means, because I'm working Friday night (until 1.30, eep!), that I'll have to go first thing on Saturday morning, and come back last thing Sunday night, for work on Monday morning. Ooh, or, if I ask work nicely, maybe I could work Monday afternoon instead of morning, to have an extra night at home... time to start sucking up, methinks...
4. I've barely been in the house all week, and my room is still a tip. How does this happen? Big tidy-up today.
5. I got a lovefilm free trial, and got By the Pricking of my Thumbs to watch Bonnie Langford (she was great!), and ended up unexpectedly falling a bit for Greta Scacchi - I definitely prefer Tuppence Beresford as a lonely alcoholic, is that wrong?
6. I also got Trial of a Timelord for the commentary - I would like to marry Colin Baker now, please. He may not be as pretty now, but he's so clever and nice and wonderful!
7. I wish there was such thing as a West End Theatres season ticket. If that existed, I wouldn't mind not having any money. Well, I would... but not very much. There's so much stuff coming up that I want to see. Hopefully by Christmas I'll be able to afford at least a couple of things!
8. Hope everyone has had a nice weekend!

OK, I'm blogging from work, bad me...
So, I was opening the post just now, and I found an invoice from the temping agency for my services...
It's ridiculous! The agency are getting basically twice what they're paying me - I mean, I know they're obviously going to take some for their stuff, or they wouldn't make any money, but seriously, they're making as much out of my work as I am?
This makes me more tempted to go for the permanent position that I'm currently filling in for - because obviously I should be in for a pretty big pay rise if I got it...
Hmm.
Actually, I can't believe what I do is worth that much money. They're crazy! I wouldn't pay that much for me...

Feeling considerably cheerier and less dramatic today!
Partly because I've got a temping assignment and some shifts at the theatre - I feel a bit safer. And also, the temping assignment is the same really nice one I was on before I left (the girl they had in the interim was rubbish, haha!) and so I feel a lot less like going away to Wales just threw all my London stuff upside-down. Finances are still a bit wobbly, but hopefully I can get things back on track.
I just need to accept that this is going to be a weird time, and make the best of it.

A challenge for you, flist: I need to find a song about a woman who is ditzy/annoying, but secretly awesome. Upbeat would be best. Some of you may guess what I need this for... Any suggestions gratefully received!

It shouldn't be exhausting to psych myself up to answer one LJ comment.
Sometimes I feel like, if I post something, anything online, it tells the world that I'm awake, and then people will want me to do things. And then I get weirdly afraid and don't answer my emails for days.
I feel like the only reason I'm still going right now is because nobody has told me to stop.
Things aren't nice in my head at the moment.
Bizarrely, one of the things keeping me going is Bonnie Langford. At times of stress my obsessions get more... obsessy. Nice to get away from the real world, I guess. And at the moment it's all about Bonnie.
Deep breaths. I know it's going to be all right. I just wish it was all right now.
Right. Early night. Big Finish audio. Fresh start in the morning.

I'm back in London!
When I got into Euston I was so happy I nearly cried... I'm such a dumbass.
But work aren't giving me any shifts because business is bad, and they haven't paid me for the shifts I did before I left... so I'm in London with no money, so as usual I can't leave the house or buy anything, or indeed eat anything but pasta... So pretty much as usual.
Oh, everything was looking so good for a while there... I had a decent medium-term temping assignment and evening work, I was really getting stuff together. *sigh* And now it could be ages before I have work again. I obviously had to go home, but the timing sure could have been better.
I'm so sick of this. I just want a regular income that's enough so that I can have fun sometimes and put a bit away for a rainy day. But now I'm afraid to apply for things because I don't know when I'll be needed at home.
Although, Mum wants to have a go at managing without me there and see how it goes, so I'm in town for at least a couple of weeks, and I may only be going up at weekends. And she's encouraging me to apply for graduate jobs, so I guess she doesn't want to shake up my life too much...
So I'm doing that, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get to any potential job interviews without any money for transport. We'll see.

The silver lining in all this cloud is my friends. I've been so touched by how great everyone has been. Thank you all for your supportive comments, offers of cake etc! penguin2, thank you so much for being all wise and stuff, and for sending me lovely things! ladyvivien, you are an angel, thank you for all your calls!

Housemates are out tonight, so I'm going to try and spend the evening writing, since that's a part of my life I've been neglecting quite badly recently. I really want to get going with it again.
I'm certainly not going to do what I did last night, and resolve to spend the evening writing, and then instead eat peanuts and chocolate and watch the whole of Caves of Androzani, no sirree!

Well, Mum's starting chemotherapy tomorrow. From what I gather, there's about an even chance that it'll go well, in which case she could be around for another couple of years, maybe more. So, not exactly good news, but certainly not the worst. I'm somewhat encouraged.

Anyway, in other news, the new series of the Sarah Jane Adventures has started! I watched the first story - I felt that the script and the direction could both have been better, but on the whole I was pretty pleased. *sigh* I love the Jacksons. And there were some very sweet moments.

I'll probably be in London for a week or two, from this weekend or the beginning of next week. So if anyone wants to hang out, stake your claim now, everyone wants a piece of me! OK... what I mean is that I'll have to do lots of shifts at work to make up for all the time I'm missing, so I'll be boring-busy instead of fun-busy...

The man who was supposed to sell me a snake sold it to somebody else! Dammit! So now I have a vivarium and no snake to put in it. Next stop, Gumtree, I suppose...

I suddenly have all this fast internet access and I don't quite remember what I used to do with it...
So I've been YouTubing kids' shows I used to love...
Raggy Dolls, anyone? I always identified with Dotty because she was bossy... Also, it makes me laugh now that all of the dolls were in the Reject Bin because they were poorly made in some way, except for Claude, who was just in there because he was French!
Also, Playdays! Does anyone else remember the thrill of seeing which stop it was going to be? The Tent Stop was my favourite, but I hated the Patch Stop.
Astro Farm, too, what a classic!
Count Duckula!!! Need I say more?
Now, Roger and the Rottentrolls has to be one of the most awesome things ever invented. I don't care if it's for kids, I still love it.
I also used to love Moondreamers, Mike and Angelo, The Dreamstone and T-Bag. Clearly I leaned strongly towards SF&F even as a kid...
I know everyone thinks the kids' TV while they were growing up was the best, but I do think that my generation were pretty fortunate. A lot of our stuff was really intelligent and interesting, and not based around the idea of several primary-coloured blobs roaming around very small sets talking nonsense.
Having said that, now they have stuff like The Sarah Jane Adventures, Raven, My Parents Are Aliens and MI High. So it's not all bad.

Woah, I can't believe I haven't updated this thing since July.
A lot has happened since then, and maybe I'll blog about that another time.
I'm back in Wales right now, for the first time since June. When I phoned my mum the other day, she told me that she has been diagnosed with cancer. They're still doing tests but it looks very serious.
So.
Seems a silly time to start posting on LJ again, but there we go.
I think my life is going to get weird now. I want to try, as much as possible, to keep my normal life in London going. I'm looking into transport costs for travelling up and down. It looks like I may be spending a lot of time here running my mum's business while she's in hospital, but I still want to get back when I can. It's funny how I've only lived in London for four months, but it still feels more like home than here right now. I don't want to just end up stuck here forever because some bad shit happened. But obviously I want to spend time with my mum while I can.

Also, I haven't been following my flist at all this summer, since I've had no home internet for quite a while. I'm online again now, so if you've been doing anything exciting, or even if you haven't, mention it now, I'm interested!

So, yesterday was... terrific.
sashavangenius and I both had the day off. I had a job interview in the morning at a bagel place, but Sash was cross because they're fakels and not proper bagels made the proper Jewish way (apparently you boil them rather than baking them), and so she said she wouldn't hate me for going to the interview if afterwards we could go to Carmelli's in Golders Green and get the real thing.
So we went on a jolly bagel hunt, and I have to say, they were fantastic. We sat on a bench in the sunshine and ate them, and then we were going to get on the tube home, but we thought, well, here we are in London, City of Awesome, with nothing in particular to do on a lovely day - and it seemed such a shame to just go home.
So we went to the Science Museum! So. Much. Fun. We had a go on everything - I got to see what I'd look like as a man, and when I get older, which was pretty cool. There were buttons to press and cranks to turn, and I learned quite a lot about how a fridge works. We played quizzes and games, and tried simulations of what the world would be like in the future. We had a go on the big echo tube, and a roller-coaster simulator!
The best, best, best thing, though, was the Listening Post. I'm not sure I've ever been so moved by an art installation. We stayed there for like an hour. It's incredible the way it makes you feel so big, and so small at the same time. It's sort of voyeuristic and funny and sad and creepy and shocking and life-affirming all at once.
After that we went to Leicester Square to see the Mamma Mia premiere - it was much too crowded to see Julie Walters arrive, but we people-watched for a while and that was wicked fun.
Then, we went to see Avenue Q! We got last-minute tickets on a whim, and I'm so glad we did! It was great. It's a show about being fresh out of college and not really having a clue what happens next, so yes, a bit relevant, eep...
We went to the stage door afterward hoping to catch Rebecca Lock, but she ran so fast we couldn't! We met Daniel Boys, though, and he was lovely. We had a bit of a chat to him and then turned to go, only to see behind us this silent, staring crowd of autograph hunters. It was actually really creepy. We hadn't heard them arrive or anything. They were all just stood there, a few dozen of them, slack-jawed, holding out their pens and programmes in mute supplication...
Now, I love stage-dooring, because I always think it's exciting to meet the cast and hear their thoughts on the show and stuff, but this kind of thing weirds me out. Sash and I see so many people who just stand there and gaze as they get their stuff signed, and never even say that they enjoyed the show, as if the actor's name on a bit of paper is what they really came for, not the chance to talk to them and tell them what their performance meant to them.
I don't know, maybe they weren't all like that, we left pretty quick. And I know some people just get tongue-tied and starstruck, which makes it harder. It was scary, though, turning and seeing them all there, so still and silent! It was like something out of a zombie movie.
After that we went home to our cosy little flat! I can't believe we've been in London a month and this is the first time we've been to the theatre, while we've been actually living here. It felt very odd not to be going back to the youth hostel, but sort of nice, too. So we got home, watched some Seinfeld, and went to bed. And that was our lovely day.
Oh... London!

So...
Sash and I kind of have internet, but it is very 'kind of' at the moment.
Things going ok. Life interesting.
Donna Noble is now officially my second-favourite companion EVER, with prospects looking promising for working her way up to joint first. I need a Donna icon. Curse my basic account! Although I could just get rid of one that I never use...
Getting to know my environs, or 'endz', as is apparently the latest teen slang. Found the post office. On chatting terms with the guys at the Polish supermarket.
Ooh, West End Live was good at the weekend. Made me want to go to the theatre lots more, which is a problem at the moment because to do that you really need money. Ho hum.
The living room is infested with ants. The drain is sort of blocked.
I am eating too much cake, but am balancing it out by also eating too many carrots.
For some reason I am very tired.
Very excited about this Saturday, 7.10pm on BBC One...

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS!

Yes... I now live in London. Fabulous, huh? sashavangenius and myself are hanging out in Tottenham for the summer, and our flat is actually... pretty decent! We have a garden and everything! Psych!
Exams went ok, as far as I could tell, we'll see when I get my results in a couple of weeks...
Sorry I've been so lame about keeping in touch, life sort of caught up with me a bit... people who are owed emails will get them soon!
Have a great week, everyone!

From deccaboo, since I'm writing an essay and I deserve a five-minute messing-around break...

Set your music player on random and use the first line of every song to write your own. It doesn't even have to make sense!

( A Song That Goes Like This... )

Graduation tickets arrived this morning. Eep. Have to order a gown and stuffs.
Last courseworks are in this week, exams mid-to-end of May.
BY JUNE I WILL BE A FREE WOMAN.
And what am I going to do? Well... good question. I'm applying for jobs and things, in London. I've applied for one that's so super-perfect that I can hardly think about anything else... you know when you just know that you would rock at something?
Hope I at least get an interview.
Househunting in London with sashavangenius next week. Plus some shows and stuff.
Oh God, I wish I were living there already, with a flat and a job and a clue... this is the first time in my life that I've had absolutely no idea what would happen in the immediate future, like, the next couple of months. It's sort of an exciting feeling. Also scary.
On a side note, ZOMG, how much do I love Donna Noble? Catherine Tate is impressing me no end.
What is also impressing me is this gorgeous weather we've been having - shame I have too much work to do to properly enjoy it, but it's nice to know it's there!