Two months off

It's been two months since I've been on here and... well I can't say I've missed it too much. Still. It's my day off and I've used it to sort a few things around the house - after which I realised I'd never shown the world any pictures of where I'm living.

So, here's the tour. From town, cross the river and head down Coronation Road. I'm at number 259 and the numbers only go down one side (the river's on the other) so that gives you an idea of how long the walk is. The house's name is Holsten House - great for a Spurs fan.



Inside the door you have stairs, which lead up (naturally). My room's downstairs so we won't bother looking up there.



To our left we have the living room, which nobody really uses. We all have our own TVs, so it's pretty pointless.



Straight ahead there's the kitchen, which has all the usual kitcheny things with the exception of a dishwasher. Bastards. On the right is my bike, which I use to frustrate the drivers of Bristol. No, seriously, we're apparently the most bike-friendly city in the UK (the greenest too, according to a recent study).



Also on the left, you have my room. It has a nice big bed, purchased from Charlie Bear for £100 (along with a TV, wardrobe, chest of drawers and bedside table) and a pet lion. His name is Roary. I won him in a darts game at the harbour festival. He's awesome.



On my wall I have two notice boards, brought up from Highbridge. On the left, there's bills and tickets and stuff I think might be important. Please notice the Reading tickets, my girlfriend's business card and an invitation to James and Ciwi's wedding.



On the right is where I pin said items when they've exhausted all purposes other than to act as souvenirs. Not a bad collection of tickets considering I've only been here a year.



Underneath my desk I have my record collection. It's not huge but I'm getting there... it's not hard to find stuff, considering Chemical Records is based here.



I've also got a few board games. I've only had Cluedo a few days and I think it's missing some pieces (not bad for £1) and the new version of Risk is a bit confusing. Boggle is awesome, though, but you know that goes without saying.



Here's my turntables, TV, speakers and my map. On the map there's a stick-on-star over every place I've got friends. If you'd been reading my blog you'd know about this.



My DVD collection (growing) and a few other items I had to have over here with me.



And the back garden. On a pretty rare sunny August afternoon.



So that's it. Not exactly amazing but it's mine (well, 1/3 of it anyway) and I worked hard to get to this point. Come and stay sometime, if you're in the area.

This day last year

At this time on June 18, 2008, I was on board a plane from Perth to Singapore en route to London Heathrow and then on to Stuttgart for the first leg of my European adventure. That's right - it's now been a year since I left Perth. I feel like I need to write something momentous to mark the occasion but I don't really have a lot to say; things are going pretty well, when you put it all in context.

I'd be lying if I said it hadn't been the most stressful time of my life. When I set off last year I had no idea where I'd be from the end of July. The southwest was always one of my options but in truth I had no idea whether it'd be Burnham/Highbridge, Bristol, London, Brighton or anywhere else. There was also that ever-present fear that I'd end up heading back to Perth, tail between legs.

So is this the point at which I can pause momentarily, turn around, have a look at things and say I've achieved something? Possibly. Who knows. There's still a fair way to go. I'd like to be doing a job that satisfied my creative urges as well as paying the rent. I'd prefer it if I had housemates that didn't complain 24/7. But in the grand scheme of things, those are pretty minor issues. I'm at the stage now where I can be thankful for getting through the past year, rather than using it as an excuse for everything.

So this is me. I've no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing this time next year. Stay in contact, if you want, cause I'm not sure there's much point keeping a blog about being away from home when that's where I am now.

Wow

In a little over a week, everything has changed. Anyone who knows me will know how I don't like counting chickens. But anyone who knows me will also know how you need to hear the whole story.

So. I met a girl at Dot to Dot, a week ago last Saturday. We had a bit of a chat and swapped numbers. We had a drink on the Tuesday and one thing led to another. She lives in Cardiff but works in Bristol and is in the process of moving across. I don't know what I was expecting on Tuesday night but it went infinitely better than I had expected, which led to Thursday night. I cooked, she was impressed.

So, yeah. After work on Saturday I caught the train over to Cardiff. She cooked, I was impressed. On Sunday we soaked up some uncharacteristic British sun and, while enjoying ice creams next to the lake, were shat on by the same bird. Good luck, apparently.

Without spilling all the beans, she's pretty much amazing. She's a year older than me, works in radio advertising and is doing a phD in contemporary literature. She likes her films and music and thinks Johnny Foreigner are a poor man's Los Campesinos!. She's coming back here tomorrow evening and it's going to be more of the same. I feel like I'm 15 again and it's awesome. That is all.

Missing out

So in the past 10 days I've missed out on my mum's 50th and now I hear my brother's just got engaged. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on a fair bit, being so far away. Sigh.

Building bridges

As you may know, a left quite a few ends untied when I got on that plane almost a year ago. A lot of things were going on and I wasn't in a great place to deal with it all.

If you've been reading my recent updates, you'll know that things have been going much better and for the first time, those problems really have seemed half a world away.

Or so I thought. As outlined in my resolutions for 2009, I've been making a real effort to be generous and hospitable and generally a more genuine person, thanks largely to the influence of one friend over here (who shall remain anonymous). Anyway, propelled by this urge to do the right thing, I thought it best to start building some bridges, burying hatchets and so on.

So here's my problem: I was fine. It took forever, but the time and distance was really starting to show. I was settling. I was over it. I'd moved on. But after a chance [internet] encounter with somebody yesterday, I decided I would extend the olive branch their way. Things can't be unsaid or undone and it's a big ask to trust someone after they've betrayed that trust once, twice, fifty times before... but I felt clearing the air was the right thing to do. Right? Not exactly. Not at all. Shot. Right. Down.

So now I don't really know how to feel. After that conversation I went and saw some friends and then did some shopping; unaffected, in the main. But it's creeping back into my thoughts now and I don't like it. I guess it bothers me because I still miss them. Not as much as it used to but it never completely goes away. But it's not a selfish thing. I'm sure my motive for reconciliation of some sort is not just me wanting to feel at ease with myself. It just comes naturally; I don't want to be on bad terms with anyone, not least someone I called my best friend for two or three years. Regardless of what happened.

So. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow and other thoughts will occupy my mind. I know this person well and I know how much of a front they put up. Not just sometimes; always. You have to dig for ages to get anywhere and leaving something to simmer for a while is far better than turning a blowtorch on it. So who knows. I don't want to expect anything and end up disappointed so I'll just leave it and hope it doesn't bug me.

Obligatory end-of-weekend post

Alright, once again it's been a week since my last post and I feel an obligation to keep you updated.

As was the case last time, no news definitely means good news; I've rarely had the chance to sit down and catch my breath. After a Saturday night that ran into the latter stages of Sunday, work on bank holiday Monday wasn't a lot of fun... and it wasn't a great way to start the week, catching up on sleep for the rest of the week.

Anyway. A bit of momentum isn't a bad thing. When I finished work on Friday evening, the prospect of a planless weekend really irked me, so I went home and organised a cheap coach ticket to London for Stef's BBQ on Saturday. Beer, meat and novelty animal hats were in abundance and a drunken singalong at the end of the night capped it off nicely.

This week won't be quite as rushed. On Wednesday I'll use my day off to get a few things done before hitting the Academy later on for a long-overdue dose of The Panics. Amazingly enough, my friend Cath from Edinburgh (now living in Reading) came online today to let me know she'd be in Bristol for a gig on Wednesday night. 2+2=4.

Next weekend? Well, that's the one-in-four, so I'm working the Saturday and Sunday. Not cool. But a week later I have the whole bank holiday weekend off... which means I can enjoy Dot to Dot properly. And with a bit of luck, I might have a guest or two for the occasion.

Finally, I thought it should be documented that I have a bit of a crush at the moment. I can't remember the last time I had a proper one; there's been the odd female who's caught my eye once in a while but that's about it. I'm being a bit cautious at the moment and might sit on it for a bit but saying that, I'm on a bit of a high right now simply because I noticed a girl and hope to one day take her out. Awwwwww, etc.

Anyway, that's me for now. More adventures this time next week, no doubt.

This blog's days are numbered

In about six weeks it will have been a year since I left Perth. Okay, so I went back at Christmas, but the last time Perth was my home was June '08. That's quite a long time to be away from somewhere you've lived for 11-odd years.

From my recent posts you can probably already tell things have been picking up... but this past couple of weeks I think this place has just about become my adopted home. It has to be down to a few things: passing probation at work, watching a social life start to take shape, picking up a new hobby, not being behind on rent, bills and whatever every month... I'm starting to think it could yet work out for me.

I don't know how much point there is me keeping a blog these days. I still miss a lot of people and things in Perth but distance-related issues are rarely the first things through my head when I wake up each morning. While I know there are people still reading my updates, I can't remember the last time I got a comment on here (not am I bothered enough to check) and I don't really think I need to write about developments in my life all the time. So let's see how long this thing lasts.