storbarnsförälder

I've almost finished the nativity scene. We have a stable with cotton wool snow, a window looking out onto minaret-type-things, and an angel in the corner. The actual figures are going to be a little more problematic, I suspect.

Mind you, this one was ok. The nurse was nice, the equipment wasn't cold, and it didn't hurt much. No more for 5 years. Hurrah!

Oh, also I've signed on again, which means that I still get my jobseekers allowance, but also that I still don't have a job. Nobody wants me! Which sucks, because I'm not the least intelligent, versatile, and competent bear in the woods.

And my cat can make smells like no other.

And I'm tired, dammit, and I have lost my appetite but I'm hungry.

I just have this feeling that ripping something warm and living limb from limb from torso from spinal column would be very satisfying. I'll probably go beat up a pillow instead.

So as I was catching up I realised that there were a couple of online tests I wanted to take...

Which Discworld Character am I most likely to be?

# 1Constable Dorfl
# 2Lady Sybil Ramkin
# 3Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson
# 4Constable Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets
# 5Constable Buggy Swires
# 6Corporal Cheri Littlebottom
# 7Sergeant Detritus
# 8Corporal C. W. St. J. Nobbs
# 9Sergeant Delphine Angua
# 10Constable Downspout
# 11Constable Reg Shoe
# 12Willikins
# 13Lord Havelock Vetinari
# 14Sergeant Frederick Colon
# 15Commander Samuel Vimes

Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

If I am an indoor person:

If I was a work of art, I would be Pablo Picasso's Three Musicians. I am colourful and provoking, always looking to break out of the mould and to pioneer new ways of doing things. I have a jaunty outlook and although I am a bit weird, most people have some idea what I'm about.

If I am an outdoor person:

If I was a work of art, I would be Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night. I am a tiny village at peace while overhead rages the tumult of the heavens. Objects whirl and flash around me in a fevered haze only partially reflected in reality while I remain grounded and secure in my isolation.

And which I am depends on my mood, to be honest.

Janice woke me at about 10:30 with a cup of tea, which was just as well, as I'd fallen into yet another bad dream. Luckily, I hadn't had any nightmares, but a few scary dreams made me glad to be woken - by the neighbours at 3:30 am, by the cat at 6:30, and by tea at 10:30.

We went to collect her teasmade from the post office, and then to the jewellers' to collect my resized ring, which wasn't ready. Then to the bank and then home. Oh, at some point we went to the Farmer's Market and bought cards and stuff.

So then we wrapped Janice's parents' Christmas gifts and did a little pottering about and opened our "Christmas Countdown" calendars and ate the chocolate.

The sun came out! Drop everything and leave the house NOW!

We toddled down to post her Christmas gifts, and stopped to listen to the Salvation Army brass band, and watched a flame juggler, and collected my ring, and had tea and a bun in Woolworths, and looked around the Market, and bought roast chestnuts, and went to look at the church at St Mary's Butts (which sold real, religious Advent Calendars, which I was annoyed I hadn't seen before I bought the secular ones) and even managed to get Niamh's Christmas presents and we didn't go home until it was well after dusk, in fact, dark.

Then Janice cooked dinner and discovered that she's allergic to ostrich. And Rob and Janice watched a Western.

So now that that's off my chest, I can talk about the cool stuff we saw and the cool places we went and the coolness of it all.

We went to the British Museum first, and looked at the comparatively new Great Court. It's not new, it's newly open to the general unwashed public.

It was marvellous. You can clearly see which bits are new stone and which are old, of course, but it's still wonderful. The Reading Room is awe-inspiring. When I grow up, I want a library like that. It was very well-stocked and I saw a few things I have liked reading and a few things I'd like to read and a few crimes against literature (Beatrix Potter!).

We also looked at the Romans and Greeks, and then stopped for lunch as I reaslied that if I was going to see the Egyptians I would need a break to stuff my brains back in my ears.

Lunch turned out to be at Wagamama. This was good, because I had only been there once before, when I first visited my ex in London, and I had hated it. It was loud, there were chopsticks, and he laughed at me for not understanding the menu. This time, with Gideon, it was loud, there were chopsticks, and he explained the menu to me and didn't laugh at me once. It was a bit of an extravagance, of course, since we're both living more-or-less off our partners right now (contribution-based jobseeker's allowance is minimal), but it was very lovely, nonetheless.

After that we went to see the mummies. We spent a lot of time wandering around the museum going "Wow, now that's what I call a serious act of theft!" and similar. It's incredible the lengths the Empire went to to thieve, transport and preserve other peoples' monuments and footpaths. "I do think that Letitia would rather like that in her drawing-room, Reggie, shall we take it?"

I always like looking at the Mildenhall Treasure.

Christmas Shopping

While I was in the area, I wanted to go to a little shop on Museum Street to buy Rob a Christmas present. I was looking for a wooden puzzle, but couldn't afford any of the ones he didn't already have. We found a lot of fascinating stuff though, and I did manage to get a pressie of sorts. We'll see when he unwraps it.

Gideon also brought me into Gosh Comics, down to the basement where the original artwork is kept. That was an educational half-hour...

Rob and I are both going into London tomorrow, Rob to work and me to spend a day wandering around the British Museum with Gideon. I asked Rob "What should I wear to make myself beautiful for my day out with Gideon?", and he said "Sackcloth and ashes!"

So I decided on some purple stuff and my garnet necklace.

I lost my placebo ring, too, and while looking for it, I found my engagement ring. I feel... oh, so much better!

It was the ring-fairy or the shiny-things elves, I'm sure of it.

Today was a day and a half. Woke late feeling like death due to period-induced stomach insubordination.

Then I had to find the bits of paperwork I need to go sign on and get my dole. I've found precious few jobs to apply for lately too.

So then I went and signed on; I arrived 5 minutes early and was only waiting 20 minutes, which is good. She was nice to me again and I got a lead on a possible job; emailed my CV to the relevant person this evening. Yet Another Recruiter.

I'm so... despondent.