Friday 17 June 2016

17th June 2016

Mia: I had a discussion with Mia just before I came to bed because she's impossible to fathom sometimes. I told her she's to give me more of a clue what she likes - other than food! I don't expect it'll work though!
Life: the prospect of what's required for my BA got me down this morning but, with a little help from my friends, I was feeling a bit more positive by the evening. I even have my topic for my 5000 word essay - the genderification of products. I actually feel quite excited about it! :) I also completed my latest canvas today and I'm well chuffed with it! :) So today's been quite positive really all in all. :)
One Thing: having friends who have my back and will lend a helping hand without me even asking has made all the difference today. I am privileged to know them. :)

Thursday 16 June 2016

16th June 2016

Mia: Mia was a cheeky little thing just before I came to bed! As I was painting my latest canvas in the spare bedroom, she opened my bedroom door and went inside! She's never done that before! Perhaps she thought I'd taken the spare bed - where she usually sleeps - for the night and so it was fair enough for her to pinch my bed! :D
Life: my windowcleaner is a dodgy fucker! He rang the doorbell today to ask me to open the side gate... which makes me wonder how he gets his ladder around the back when I'm not there! More than likely, he doesn't bother and has been ripping me off for a job half done! Or not at all even! This afternoon I went to the cinema again to watch the football. Again, it looked like we were gonna fuck up a match we should've won comfortably but luck was on our side tonight! I'm shocked and saddened by the murder of Jo Cox MP today. According to the news it was a Britain First nut which shows where that kind of mentality leads to! If the government's serious about cracking down on extremism, it's about time it banned groups like them and the BNP! As I said at the start, I was doing more painting today. I'm almost done on it and it's my favourite one so far! I'm really happy with my progress as a portrait painter! :)
One Thing: I'm choosing England winning the football today. It's not often you get joy as an England fan, so you've gotta appreciate it when it happens!

Wednesday 15 June 2016

15th June 2016

Mia: Mia was finally back on form today! She was cuddly and loving and fun to be with! :) I wonder if female cats have menstrual cycles??
Life: I worked some more on my latest painting today. I'm reasonably happy with the way it's going so far. :) I also visited the doctor today as I'd been asked to come in for a "non-emergency appointment". It was just a catch-up from being discharged from CX GIC... in January! Whilst I was in the surgery, a thunder storm came overhead so I ended up having to paddle my way to the bus stop! The roof of the bus was leaking too so that added to the 'fun'! Before coming to bed, I checked my emails and found one from college with my research task for the summer - prepare for a 5000 word in-depth analytical study! The key phrase in the email I feel was "it helps if you're passionate about something". Add this to the response I got, when I moaned about it on Facebook, that 'I can do anything I set my mind to', I'm already beginning to understand the key to tackling this BA.
One Thing: I'm choosing my time with Mia today. I love her to death! <3 :)



Tuesday 14 June 2016

14th June 2016

Advanced warning: I am pissed!
Mia: hardly saw anything of Mia today because I left the house at 10.30am and didn't get black until 12 hours later. However, I do remember disturbing her on her bed when I was doing my latest painting. She also wanted food when I got in but there was no way I was feeding her at that time of night! So she's probably gone to bed now cursing me under her breath!
Life: so, inspired by the Pulse murders and a guy I saw on the bus yesterday, I have started painting a new portrait. So far I have got as far as the background which is blue and green but I had to let it dry before starting on the rest. That's when I saw a meme on Facebook from the Dalai Lama telling me to visit somewhere I'd never been before but I also knew I was meeting up with friends at Liverpool Tate at 3pm, so I had to think where I could get to there and back in time... and decided on Warrington. So I sent my friend, Ali, a text to see if she was available as she lives in the area and, sure enough, she was. So we met up for lunch and I was treated to a panini and hot beverage before she gave me a whistle stop tour of Warrington in the half hour I had left to get my train (I own it, you know!) back to Liverpool. Once back in Liverpool, I walked down from the station to the Tate and met up with Hilary and Patricia (but Shirliegh was a no show - I hope she's OK) and we had a look around the Francis Bacon exhibition and also a woman artist I can't remember the name of, which is a shame because I prefer her work to his! After that, we wandered upto Mowgli in the pouring rain (poor Patricia got soaked through!) for tea and then around to a pub for their gin promotion they had on... except they were closed to the public because they were filming an advert for a lager I can't remember the name of! So we wandered back to The Black Labradoodle (not its real name but it'll do for now!) where we supped gin cocktails and I got quietly pissed! And after that I had to find my way back to the bus and get home again which is all a blur now! But I'm very very happy! :)
One Thing: I've had a lovely day seeing my friends. I could pinch myself sometimes how my life has blossomed since I moved to Wirral! I am so blessed and I love them all! <3 :)

Monday 13 June 2016

13th June 2016

It starts with religious text. It starts with feeling that we are weird. It starts with making jokes about us and mocking us. It starts with feeling that we are against nature. It progresses to lies and hatred against us. It progresses to enacting laws against us. It progresses to removing our rights. It progresses to violence against us. It ends with murdering us... and running through it all is the desire for us to not exist alongside them.
But they misunderstand one thing - we always have, and we always will, exist alongside them. There is nothing - NOTHING - they can do to eradicate us! They can only make us hide. 
So I say NOW is the time to come out. NOW is the time to make ourselves known. NOW is the time to show our strength of number. For this war against us will continue for as long as WE stand back and allow it to. History belongs to them but NOW is our opportunity to claim the FUTURE.
...
Mia: from 5.30 this morning, Mia was very persistent in getting me out of bed. I did well though and resisted until 7.30am. :)
Life: I had a lazy morning but then went into Liverpool for my volunteering stint at WHISC. Afterwards, I went to St George's Hall for the vigil for the 100+ LGBTQI victims of the shooting at Pulse in Orlando (See comments above). 
One Thing: it was a bitter sweet feeling to see so many of us come together (with half a day's notice) at the vigil tonight. I wish so many people hadn't needed to suffer to make it happen though. :(

Sunday 12 June 2016

12th June 2016

Mia: Mia continues to be adorable. It doesn't matter if she's being aloof, naughty or whatever - she is always adorable... even at 5 in the morning! That's called unconditional love, folks!
Life: another lazy day. The biggest exertion was doing the hoovering - which Mia hates! I also did some 'ink doodlings'. Otherwise, it's been a day of watching More4 and Netflix.
One Thing: I'm choosing playing with inks today. It pleasantly whiled away an hour. :)

Saturday 11 June 2016

11th June 2016

Mia: Mia was in a more affectionate mood today. Not like she has been but not as cold/temperamental as she has been this last week or so.
Life: this morning I did the weekly shop. Then I had a lazy day until this evening when I went to the cinema to watch England in the Euros. People used to talk about Spain as underachievers but, seriously, there can't be a more consistent bunch of underachievers than England! We should've won that match 3 or 4 nil! Instead we get a 1-1 draw! Plus ca change! :(
One Thing: I'm choosing watching an exciting football match on the big screen at the cinema in comfy seats but I am most definitely not choosing the result!

Friday 10 June 2016

10th June 2016

Mia: had some fun this evening playing with Mia but she was really getting wild chasing the 'fish on a stick'! She's looking jolly tubby too!
College: I met up with Patricia at college to collect our stuff. I left some of my stuff there as I no longer wanted it but, even still, I could barely lift my portfolio! Then we went to somewhere in Liverpool - I haven't a clue where! - for lunch. It was a very nice restaurant with very nice food but the skies opened and the place started to flood! Patricia said they'd only just redecorated too! I recommend they look at their flood defences next time!
Life: I took my car in for its MOT today and it passed first time, so that was a relief! After I'd picked it up and got home again, i didn't feel like having much tea after lunch, so I just had some cake. This evening was the start of Euro 2016 but, of course, I don't have a telly, so I've listened to it on 5 Live. It sounded like an excellent match and, apparently, there was an excellent goal but I'll have to wait till tomorrow now to see it. :( Still I'd rather that than pay the licence fee or get fined!
One Thing: having my car pass it's MOT first time was a great relief! I was dreading it being expensive! Now all I want to do is sell it...

Thursday 9 June 2016

9th June 2016

Mia: still no cuddles from Mia but she was letting me stroke her, so that's some improvement I suppose. I couldn't get her interested in play either. Maybe it's just too much effort in the heat??
Life: today I went over to Wirral Met and met up with the course leader of the BA Fine Art course to have a look around and see some of the students' work. I was disappointed by the tutor's gaps in knowledge of art and design and the fact there's no ceramics teacher. Plus I'm not sure I want to spend three years in what is essentially a warehouse with no window. So I have stopped toying with the idea of doing a BA in Fine Art at the only college in the area I could afford. Instead, this evening I have looked into evening classes in ceramics and have requested info. However, I couldn't help feeling a bit down that things haven't turned out as I hoped and so I got out my colouring book to take my mind off things. And that has essentially been my day.
One Thing: I'm glad I went and had a look at Wirral Met. If I hadn't, I would always have been wondering "what if?" but now I know me and Wirral Met are not a good fit.


Wednesday 8 June 2016

8th June 2016

Mia: not getting much in the way of affection from Mia at the moment - I'm just the person who feeds her. She's still clingy - hardly straying more than 6ft away from me - but she isn't letting me stroke her for whatever reason.
Life: it was a lazy morning but after lunch I went and got my decapeptyl jab which as always (warning: tired old joke coming...) was a total pain in the arse! (I did warn you) This evening I went to BLS to support the Circle. Wasn't anything too taxing - just greeting people and offering them a drink. This evening the fog horns of the ships down at New Brighton have been sounding, so they must be jolly loud if I can hear them all the way over here!
One Thing: I'm choosing having a lazy day without going doolally. Such a thing would've been unimaginable even just a year ago!

Tuesday 7 June 2016

7th June 2016

Mia: another day when Mia elected to stay indoors instead of getting a suntan! I honestly don't understand her sometimes! :) She got fish for tea but wasn't a bit grateful for it. Instead she seemed to be in a mood tonight and wanted to be left alone.
College: so today I found out my results for my work these last 9 months. Oddly enough, my concepts weren't mentioned which I thought was by far my weakest area but I was told that I still need to believe in myself more and stop seeking approval plus my best work is when I put my heart into it and express my feelings. Which in itself was validation - unsought - that I should concentrate on expressing what I want to say (which can be summed up as "fuck off!") and how I want to say it. It's also been fabulous seeing everyone talking about their results on Facebook and congratulating each other. I think we've all done ourselves proud. :)
Life: I met up with Hilary for mocha and cake this morning and then we went to college to see the show. After that, we had a brief lunch in the college cafe before getting bus into town where we wandered around the shops for a bit. Again the weather was spoiling us so it was lovely and Hilary is great company. :) This evening I did a bit more arty stuff and generally lazed. It's too hot to do anything requiring effort!
One Thing: definitely the buzz on Facebook with everyone sharing their results and congratulating each other. It was lovely! :)

Monday 6 June 2016

6th June 2016

Mia: you'd think, in weather like this, Mia would be out getting herself a suntan. But no! She spends all day indoors waiting for me to feed her!
College: I went into college for my 'departing interview' but, when I got there, I found today's date scribbled out and tomorrow's date written in! So much for notification! Just as well, I can make it tomorrow!
Life: this morning I arranged my MOT for Friday, and tried to get TalkTalk to sort my phone out but they were a total waste of time! So much so I'm looking at ditching them and going back to PlusNet! This afternoon I went to WHISC for my volunteering stint. Today I sorted out their website banners and page tabs. The weather was ridiculously hot this afternoon - which made the trip home on the bus almost unbearable! :(
One Thing: the thing I'm choosing today is my friends Clare and Aileen making the effort to go all the way out to Bootle to see our end of term show. It's lovely that they think so much of our work that they made the effort. :)

Friday 3 June 2016

3rd June 2016

Mia: poor Mia was cross with me this evening. I don't blame her. I've hardly looked in on her these last 48 hours. :( I also bumped into my neighbour who said Mia has gotten into the habit of visiting her and bullying her cat. I apologised but she said it was fine and that her cat was a wimp anyway!
Life: I snoozed until 3pm and then walked into town to take advantage of Donut Day. I had two ring donuts. I then caught the bus to Liverpool, had a quick wander around Liverpool One, and a drink in Waterstones before wandering up to the bombed out church where I met Alison and her friend; and Patricia came to pick us up to take us to Give on the outskirts of Liverpool. From the outside, you wouldn't recognise it was a restaurant - it looks like your standard retail park outlet, but the food was fantastic! It's all veggie/vegan and they give a free meal to the homeless for every meal you buy. It was a treat to not have to scour the menu for the veggie options and so we tried a load of different stuff and there was a lot of sharing going on so we could all taste how brilliant it all was! I ordered Indian spiced tofu goujons and they were so delicious! And no more expensive than you'd pay at any other restaurant that WEREN'T giving a free meal to the homeless! It also has an adjoining grocery shop where you can buy the same stuff on the menu, so I bought some 'mock duck' which was delicious the bit of Clare's that I tried! :) The place is an absolute god send for veggies and I'm gonna have to work out how to get there on the bus because I definitely want to go back! :) The meal was organised by Clare to introduce us to her two American friends. So I have now met 2 Americans and they were very friendly, nice, people! :)
One Thing: I'm choosing Give restaurant today. As said, it is an absolute God send for veggies! Long may it succeed! :)

2nd June 2016

written 2pm ish on 3rd June...
Mia: considering Mia ended up having a very late breakfast at 11am this morning (3/6/16), she is a very forgiving creature. It almost makes me want to forget all about the 5am starts she insists upon every morning!
Life: I met Hilary at Patisserie Valerie at 10am and, after cake and coffee, we went to Liverpool Hope Uni for their Fine Art & Design Degree show. There was a lot of stuff there that I liked and I thought it was a very positive and promising show :) however, there was nothing there that I thought was vastly better than what I can do, which was very encouraging. :) Afterwards, we walked across Liverpool in gorgeous sunshine to see the Merseyside Embroiderer's Guild at the Anglican cathedral. The lighting wasn't great so it wasn't easy to see the colours but I liked what I saw and thought there were some very impressive pieces there :) After that, we walked into town before going our separate ways and I returned home, fed Mia and then got the bus to college.
College: Our end of year show started today (2/6/13) and it was our private view for friends and family between 5-8pm. I had a bit of a wander around before the throng arrived and was very impressed by what I saw. I think it was easily the equal of the stuff at Liverpool Hope. However, unlike the art at Hope, I was intimidated by the BA Graphics stuff. It was incredibly professional and so the gauntlet has been thrown - can I be their equal? Am I ready for that challenge? Or am I gonna quit whilst I'm ahead? Tune in this time next year for the result! After the show, a bunch of us went into town for a meal and a bit of a celebration. We are at a place I'd never heard of before - Amalia I think it's called - and the cheese pizza I got was huge! If we weren't wandering around afterwards, I'd have got myself a doggybag! But we were on the town, so I didn't. I don't know the places we went to but I do know that the music was too loud, the alcohol went down far too easy, and I was having a lot of fun! :) So instead of getting the last bus home at midnight, I stayed out with the girls. It was gonna be our last time together and so I really didn't want to curtail it! So I ended up crashing on Patricia's sofa at 3am this morning (3/6/16). At about 9am, Patricia's daughter gave me a lift to the station and I got back home at 11am and have been in bed since I got in. 
One Thing: there is so much to choose from yesterday but the one thing I'm gonna have to pick is being chosen as 'best in show' for our course and how lovely everyone's been about it. :) I am struggling, though. I am finding it so hard to accept I'm as good as people say I am! I just keep crying  every time I try to let it sink in. And it's not even fair anyway! Everyone's work was amazing! I've not had to work that hard since Christmas because my skill set was already there. Whereas others have come on leaps and bounds, really pushed themselves - even through illness in some cases - and really produced the goods! So I really don't think it fair to say I'm 'best in show' because I'm not (no matter what the certificate says!)

Wednesday 1 June 2016

1st June 2016

Mia: Mia can be a contrary madam sometimes! Last week she lapped up her milk with delight. This week she's turned her nose up at it! That's good food and money she's wasted! :(
College: so it was back to college today. I got there for the usual start time only to be told to go away until lunch time. I had some stuff I wanted to do in the library so I went and did that but it didn't take anywhere as long as I thought it would. So I caught the bus into town just to waste some time. I tried out the Italian Club Bakery that'd newly opened. It was rubbish! The coffee and eclair were tasteless and they charged £5 for the privilege! I also wandered into Resurrection as I was tempted by the sign saying 'vintage clothes £5' and ended up buying a shirt for tomorrow. The assistant was rude though and clearly thought I shouldn't be buying a bloke's shirt! It brought back memories but obviously the shoe was on the other foot then. Society doesn't half have some stupid rules/attitudes! After that, I went back into college, carried my easel across the road to our exhibition space and then helped Patricia put her easel together and carry that across the road. Quite an enjoyable day at college all in all. :) and then I left my shirt at college! :(
Life: this evening my ex-work colleague Ian, who is helping me look after my garden, came to give me an appraisal of what needs doing this summer. Nothing major - mostly because he sorted it out for me last year! :) the rest of the evening was spent watching catch-up telly and Netflix.
One Thing: the thing I'm choosing today is seeing my work on display. It's an insufficient representation of the work I've done these last 9 months but it still looked great! :)