I am hoping you can help me.

A desire I myself have little control over has devoured me. Let me tell you the story.

A last year, I bought off eBay the sinlge most beautiful pair of boots that I had ever owned. In soft black suede, with a gold pattern, they skulpted my legs and converted even the most determined shoe anit-chirsts. Then, in a moment of penniless desperation, I sold them.

They are Irregular Choice (of course).

I have never seen another pair for sale anywhere since. And I NEED them.

This is them:

I need them in size 7 or size 7.5… It would make my day if you knew anyone who had them!

On a partially seperate note, aren’t these ones pretty?!

My shoes were definately the fashion hit of graduation - so many people commented on them!

That is becasue they are gorgeous! And only £30 including postage from my al time favourite eBay store Branch 309

About time that I sat down and did some writing. Frighteningly, a massive 3 weeks have passed since I last blogged my little heart out, and I have a lot to tell. However, it seems that writing a blog - or even, for that matter, going online, has dropped way down my list of priorities - I’m much more likely to get in from work and collapse in front of the TV than flick on the computer and check my emails.

Ah yes, the first news of the bunch. I don’t know if you caught the little reference above, but I am working. Every day I get up, eat breakfast (because I have to) and toddle off on the walk to work. Then, similarly, at the end of the day I pack my bag and head off home. It’s great. For the first time in a long time I get relaxing time yet I’m also kept busy, I’m doing a nice variety of stuff and time is whizzing past like a boy racer on speed. In case you missed my excited post a few weeks ago, I’m actually a Marketing assistant now - my foot is one rung higher on the ladder to success. However, it does seem to be one rung higher on the ladder to cheesiness as well!

Secondly, on Monday I made the odd transition from Graduand to Graduate - and now I officially own a degree! It’s nice and reassuring to know this. Graduation day was an odd time - it was lovely to see everyone, but I am not a fan of the actually ceremony of graduation itself. I was much more interested in seeing the physical certification that I had really done the past three years and hadn’t simply dreamt them. I feel that the graduation ceremony is archaic, which alone is harmless. However, I feel that the outdated division between the genders (girls wear their hats indoors, guys don’t, etc.) is actually one of the most dangerous cases of sexism - mainly because it is still in today’s enlightened society regarded as “what has always been done”. If this is “what has always been done”, then why does society change and move on - why are some things unacceptable, but more hamrless forms of sexual discrimination allowed and enforced. Mixed messages, I feel, are never the best route towards equality. I also refused to stand to song the antional anthem - it is after all my perrogative and choice as to whether I support the monarchy or nor. There may be an element of childish rebellion in my actions, but I’d rather stand up to my morals and be seen as silly than let them lapse in select situations. Plus, havbing never met the queen I don’t really care whether she lives for a long time or not - I have no vested interest, callous as it may sound to say it.

So, rant aside, I have passed two milesones in my period in absentia from WordPress. I am now a working woman, nay, a working graduate.

Long may this continue.

p.s I shall write a post on Irregular choice shoes tomorrrow, and post some graduation photos whenever I get the oppurtunity!

My degree is over. Today we faced up to our inner demons of worry and paranoia and ventured into the lands of bravery and remarkable success.

It was results day, and I passed with a 2:1. Not half bad. And all my friends are so clever and have done so well - I can just feel this surge of pride whenever I think of them achieving all this success. They are all so great and have so much ahead of them.

I realise that I’m gushing, but it has been one of those days, packed to the brim with excitement and fear, and the relief of finally being able to put a label on the past 3 years of solid (and very enjoyable) investment. Our money and good intentions have paid off, and now we head out to join the educated (perhaps…) masses of graduate employees. Wish us well.

On a similar note, I have a job. It starts next Monday and sees me in the position of marketing assistant, at a well known and global pharmaceuticals company in Leamington Spa. The interview was the best I’ve ever had and I’m looking forward to starting, once I have moved in with Ben. I’m very excited about everything at the moment! It’s initially an 8 week contract, but hopefully it it’ll go permanent at the end!

Woo! I have to end this post with the stereotypical ending…

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR EVER!!!!

Fool! In a moment of unforwarned window shopping, I yesterday wandered within reach of a Faith shoe-store, where timing and luck defeated me by placing a massive SALE sign in the window. 10 minutes later, and many shoe trials later, I found myself wandering the streets with shoe boxes in hand. In my defence, I was only £25 down for two pairs of shoes worth £100 in total (Bargain!!).

Here are my goodies:

First, a lovely patent leather pair, which I with my narrow tootsies will have to wear with insoles. These were a grand £15! Isn’t that cheap and aren’t they lovely.

Second, my green shoes bought under the pretence that I would wear them with my medusa constume for my end of year party. Yeah right. I will wear them, but I will also wear them on every available oppurtunity thereafter. Possibly whilst shoving the delicate pattern in my friends facing whilst sqeaking “look, look, aren’t they so pretty!!”.

Brilliant buys!

Well. I have been very busy these past few days, and it feels like every time I sit at a computer I have things to do, jobs to complete and bits and pieces to catch up on. So it feels like a bit of a relief that three days into the week, I can finally type up an update on the rather exciting days that have been.

I shall begin at the weekend, as it was sunny then and I had a lot of fun. The Leamington peace festival was on, a big hippy fest full of clothes stalls to drawl over, teenagers languishing on the grass in the sun, and vegan foodie delights sold in cardboard containers. It was lovely to stroll around on the grass, listening to African drum beats drifting through the air and watching little kiddies running around after giant fairy bubbles! I shall definitely return next year, especially after it looks like I might actually be based there after all. But more on that later.

Sunday came, and it was time for me to meet Ben’s dad and stepmum. I have nearly been with Ben for two years now, and we all acknowledged that this was an extremely long period of time to go without the official second half of the “meet the parents”. However, plenty of pomp and circumstance intervened (notably the boy going to hospital on the day before we were due to meet), and it only finally happened on Father’s day. We attempted to head to Warwick Castle, thinking (probably correctly) that archery display, professional dress-up and old ruins make for a typically successful fathers day activity. The drawback, however, was that the car parks were all full, and over the battered walls of the castle we could see throngs of visitors shuffling, rather that parading, the grounds. So there was no castle.

Then, after substituting the Peace festival for the surely much over hyped castle nonsense, we decided to head for dinner. After a perusal of the towns gastronomic offerings, including “The Sausage” which Cie incorrectly interpreted as selling all types of meat (it’s sells sausages), and a lovely looking restaurant called Rhubarb, where we fully expected the food to match the prices. We settled on The Bar and Grill, a nice looking restaurant where we fully expected an excellently cooked steak and some riveting conversation. The reality, as always, was far removed from this, with an empty restaurant, no starters (except for soup. Spicy soup) and their only table (us) walking out only minutes after being seated. That said, pretentious restaurants are always going to annoy people even if they do have starters - after all, why would they need to check to see if there was a table when we were the only guests?!

After this slight debacle, the group of us trooped off to Rhubarb… which was closed. Defeated by our seeming inability to chose restaurants correctly, we fell back on our reserve option, and headed resolutely towards the hotel restaurant where we assume the food would be expensive but enjoyable. We headed through the hotel entrance, to be greeted by one women, and other than her just a was of silence. The silence of Overlook Hotel in the depths of winter, or of a battlefield when all the soldiers have died or left. It was creepy, and as we settled down in the bar (which had to be opened especially for us) we all exchanged looks that perhaps predicted the culinary shambles to come. The bar itself was a sight for sore eyes. Newly decorated, it was coated in floor to ceiling black wall paper, with long black drapes and high backed Gothic black chairs. As the light streamed towards the ceiling from black glass giht fittings, bouncing off tall mirror on the way, it became clear that here was a coven waiting to happen.

We finally headed through to the restaurant, deserted aside from a lonely diner awkwardly supping in the corner. Sharing the two copies of the menu between the five of us, we chose our food and ordered, then settled back with our wine to finally try and enjoy the evening. IT was not to be, however, and the first course of black pudding and fried egg (I had smoked salmon, which, to be fair, it is hard to get wrong) was floating in oil - and the second course was even worse. Our meals were plonked before us, along with a large bowl of unpeeled, sprouing potatoes. Sprouting!! We stared at them in shock, before asking in slightl incredulous tones if the had any more. They could have at the least atempted to pretend the wee fresh potatoes! We were out of luck, however, the the travesty of a chef sliced off the sprouts and sent them back, claiming them as fresh! Combined with the large bowl of a mishmash of peas and large un peeled carrots, the meal was going downhill before we even took or first bite. Which was a mistake. The beef was white, and my stomach has paid seriously for this all week. It also tasted of fried egg, which was a surreal experience. Angered and bemused, we walked out of the restaurant in a state of incredulous shock. Again.

So, two restaurants, many bottles of wine, and a lot of astonishment later, we were finally settled in a nice reliable Slug and Lettuce, with a lovely waiter who thought we were mad. What with all the laughing and drinking, I was slightly barmy and hysterical, and had one of the best nights I have had in a long time!

To put it quite simply, it was legendary.

I apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to write this - this week has been full of end of year activities, job searches (I will fill you in on this in my next post)and more. I have barely had 10 minutes to myself to sit in front of a computer, relax and vomit (in a verbal sense) my daily happenings onto my blog for all to see. Sorry!!

Well Sulz tagged me to do a meme (is “do a meme” the right phrase?), so I’m going to do my best. I’m relatively certain meme is the writers sophisticated version of chain-questionnaires, but let’s be honest, I’ve done my fair share of them in my time!

Please thoughtfully consider the following, and choose one item for each of the categories below. (Be sure to describe your reasons for choosing)

One religious work from a non-familiar tradition you’ll read:
I’ve a lot of religious books I’ve been meaning to read. I want to have a glance through both the Bible and the Koran, as well as having a strong interest in reading the Egyptian book of the dead, amongst others. I think I want to understand the religions, even if I disagree with a number of the claims, and feel that religious competition is weighing heavily and unpleasantly on the global conscience. I’ve also got a lot of novels (my bibles) to read too!

Does anyone have any good book suggestions for me?

One music video–that you like–from your “least likely to listen to’ genre:
Hmm… Hip Hop would probably be my genre, but my problem is that even within my “least liked” category there are songs that I love! This one has an amazing video however!

A book from a genre you almost never read, that you have read, or you will read (promise!):
I’m not a major classics fan - as in books over a hundred years old. I tend to find them outdated, slow and downright over descriptive. Which I know is completely hypocritical, as over-description is my biggest flaw! However, some I have read have been amazing - Such as The Yellow Wallpaper, or Wuthering Heights. I dream of owing lots of beautifully covered books, so classics would be ideal! I love this idea by Penguin - you draw your own cover on the book (only slightly sacrilegious!)

Somewhere you’d never thought to go on holiday/vacation, and why it might be fun to go there:

I’ve always known I would travel. Even more obnoxiously, I’ve always believed that I can go wherever I want, the whole world in all its splendors and it’s horrors, is completely open to me, whether as a tourist, a fellow human being, or a marked outsider. My honest aim in life is to explore the world - for now I have to save. However… highly unlikely I’ll ever reach the north pole (or the south)!

A specific food you’ve never tried, but will because of this meme, honest!:

Sushi. I have been meaning to try it for ages - maybe I’ll be brave and take my boyfriend somewhere for some. You know my only real hesitation with sushi? The conveyor belt system - it scares me as much as the prospect of finding my seat in exams does!

A sport or game you really hate, or haven’t tried yet, but are willing to give one more go:
Curling! I can’t guarantee that I am willing to give it any sort of go, however. The idea of a shiny stone ball sliding down a long ice pathway just doesn’t do it for me, I’m afraid.

A style of dance you probably won’t try (we won’t make you promise on this one):
I doubt I will be any good at hip hop dance. The fast movements, funky twitching (forgive my terminology) and body thrusting seems so far outside my abilities that it is barely conceivable to talk about it. However, I have secret (ok, public) desires to partake in the tango, salsa, belly dancing, pole dancing and burlesque. Not in any perverted raunchy fashion that may offend people, but in the sense of exploring my own body and my own sensuality, whilst enjoying being silly and looking an idiot.

A career job you don’t feel you’re suited for, and why:
I’m not suited to the life of a lawyer. I respect lawyers, but I myself am destined for something more creative, innovative and enjoyable. I don’t want to be forever stuck in a role that people commonly describe as soul destroying. I believe I can go high up in business without sacrificing my ideals - and whilst still looking and feeling like “me”.

An item that’s “thinking out of the box’ for this meme that hadn’t been included:

Couldn’t think of an answer for this one I’m afraid… I’m feeling in a somewhat compliant, dependent mod for today - original thought is somewhat lacking and I do the best I can with exactly what is thrown at me! Many o these things I have discussed above I long to do, and shall endeavor throughout the course of my life to achieve them., Some, however, may be replaced by other, newer dreams. By technological fantasies or interstellar travel. Who knows.

Tagging: Secondhandshopper, Amandzing, Nectarville, Icedlemontea and Musings of a Monkey. Have fun guys if you want to do it!

Just a quick post on the brilliance antics of Tasha, a friend on my corridor.

Inspired by the Crunchy nut advertising campaign, the subject of this tale had wandered to the kitchen to prepare a bowl of her favourite breakfast munchies - at 9 in the evening. Bowl in hand, she went to leave the kitchen, and was just exiting the door when an unthinkable thing happened - the bowl of Crunchy Nut began to slip!!

It was time to make a split second decision - and she dived for the bowl, cradling it against her. Unfortunately this caused the door to slam… on her toe!

Dun-Dun-Duuuuuhhhh….

However, I would like to let you know that this story has a happy ending. Upon her return from the nurse, wounded toe neatly bandaged in a fetching shade of white, the said victim was happily munching away - on her replacement bowl of.. yup, you guessed it - CRUNCHY NUT!

A big day. Well actually, a normal busy work day with a big component.

I am going to the doctors re: antidepressants.

Lets see how it goes.

My motto is that nothing is too daunting, and nothing too simple, to be achieved.

I love going to the cinema. There is something about the womb-like darkness, the row upon row of identical seats. I love going as couple, hand in hand staring at the screen (I am not a back-row-snogger; if I pay to see a film, I will damn well see it!). I love going as a group, watching some generic horror, and jumping in tandem with all those around you. I even think that whe I am older I will love going to see films alone, cocooned in the dark, screen-led escapism, where any world is yours.

unfortunately I don’t go to the cinema often enough - it’s expensive at weekends, and commitments seem to get in the way during the week. When I do go, however, I make a point of trying to choose my favourite seat, of staring wide eyes and open mouthed at the action and intrigue unfolding in glorious motion right before my eyes.

On this note, therefore, I thought I’d put a list (and a little critical evaluation, I am after an opinionated woman) of the films I have seen in the past few months…

1. Indiana Jones. Now. Indiana Jones films are known for being silly. They are high action fun fests full of hugely enjoyable unrealistic fight scenes, perilous booby-traps and romance by the Indy-filled barrel load. This one, however, the somewhat delayed latest sequel, was shit. Don’t get me wrong - the first three quarters were over-the-top and glorious. The last quarter, however, was idiotic. Crapper than crap storylines, an truly idiotic conclusion, and a certain appalling aftertaste that left us wondering what on earth the writers had taken before developing the script.



2. Sex And The City. As a SATC convert of recent years, I had been looking forward to a good sob-session, with ridiculous (and frankly unattractive) outfits, shoes to die for, and bottomless pockets. I was not disappointed. I enjoyed this film with every inch of my soul - every dramatic moment, every dazzling dress. Impressively, it felt like everything was happening to me personally - and that kind of emotional involvement is a rare thing indeed.





3. Transformers. Not only did it feature Shia LaBeouf (whom I oddly fancy!), but it was also jam packed with dramatic action - and THE sexiest yellow car I have ever seen. I love love loved this and couldn’t even begin to explain why. Plus, there is something about my bodies reaction when that engine purrs into life…



4. 300. OH. MY. GOD. This film made me very very excited. Something to do, perhaps, with the bare rippling chests of 300 fantastically computer “perfected” men. Or the perfectly executed graphic novel representation of bloodshed, battles and monsters. It was very enjoyable, and very re-watchable, which it not an accolade I give lightly. Full of passion and manliness.

   

5. Cloverfield. Another film that shocked me with it’s brilliance. Drawn to the cinema to watch this by it’s somewhat misleading trailer and air of mystery, I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy this movie. I didn’t, after all, have any idea what it was about, and I’ve seen enough films to know that handheld camera technique is often used to cover up an even shakier storyline. It was, however, a bit of a masterpiece. I’m not saying it wasn’t confusing, or a little bit ridiculous. But through all that silliness (it is made by the creators of Lost, you see) it kept my heart pound and left me thoroughly satisfied. And shaking. A marked success.



6. Juno. I didn’t want to like this film. Everyone else did - why should I. After all, the last film recommended to me like this one was Napoleon Dynamite. Which I hated. Passionately. This film, however, was very enjoyable. Tasteful and realistic, it captured a down-to-earth image of the ups and downs of society. It also made me cry, in a thoroughly happy/respectful way.



7. Finally, Disturbia. My third Shia LaBeouf film of the year (I am turning into a borderline obsessive, it’s very odd to witness as I am a very down to earth person free from crushes normally!). This too was an unexpected gem, and it kept my mum in thralls of admiration for weeks. It was tense, scary, dramatic, and even had a sexy kissing scene, which is always good fun. I also thought that the performance by David Morse (if you can’t work out where you’ve seen him before, it might have been House M.D) was creepy and spot on.

So there you have it - the films of 2007 - 2008 that I saw. The good, and the bad.