Got bored with pink

Well not totally. I don't think one can ever get bored of such a bright and beautiful colour, but having come across a blog written by someone rather younger than myself using the same template, I thought maybe I'd change it. Still could do with a tidy up though, some links, a proper profile etc.

still smiling

Last night I saw the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I grinned and giggled my way through most of it. It's good. Not perfect, but pretty good.
Things to look out for include the jewelled crabs and the original Marvin from the TV series in a queue. Oh and squashed mice. And knitted people. And Simon Jones. And...I could ramble on for ages about the bits I liked and didn't like, but really you should go and see it yourself.

The other good thing about last night was seeing the advert for Jubilee Church on the big screen. As of last Sunday we're meeting in screen ten of Enfield UGC and the cinema advert's part of saying here we are, come and see what we're about. So if you're in the area, come and say hi.

big silly grin

Two reasons.

1. I'm going to see the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film tonight!

2. Saturday, 7pm, Doctor Who, Daleks!

I hate shoe shops

I've just been listening to an item on Woman's Hour on the troubles of finding shoes for large feet. This is one of my own particular bugbears. I have size 9.5 feet (43/43.5 European) and shopping for shoes on the high street is guaranteed to make me cross and upset. I tend to make a point of going into shoeshops and asking what sizes they go up to, even though I know the answer will depress me. The response tends to be along the lines of "We have the odd 42 in a few styles, but they go very quickly, have you looked at our unisex ranges?"

AARGH!

There is no point trying to squeeze my feet into too small shoes I will never wear and I don't want to spend my life wearing big, clumpy, masculine shoes. As one of the women interviewed in the Woman's Hour item said; "I just want a pair of frivolous shoes for once in my life!" Why can't high street shoe shops appreciate this? Grrr.

Thankfully, I live in London which means I can go to Chiltern Street, near Baker Street tube, where I now have a choice of three shops specialising in large sizes. I love the feeling of going into a shoe shop, knowing that I can try on ANY of the shoes in the shop and don't have to worry about whether they come in my size or not. Of the three, Crispin's is the longest-established. Their shoes are on the classy (and pricey) side but they're good quality and lately the range has become a little less frumpy and more fashionable. Magnus is cheaper and closer to the sort of thing you'd find in a high street shoe shop. Most of my favourite shoes come from there, including the knee high boots I never thought I'd find and my absolute favourite bright pink shoes. The newcomer is Elephant Feet. I've not been there yet, but looking at their website, they look quite similar to Magnus in terms of style and price.

I intend to visit all three on Saturday. I'm finally getting paid after a few months of unemployment and it's time to celebrate.

Unexpected finds on a walk through East London

A happy pig scratching her back on a tree and eating flowers.

There were also donkeys, sheep, lambs, cows, goats and beautiful piglets. Strangely enough they weren't roaming the streets of Stepney, but were happily ensconced in Stepping Stones Farm. It's very small; it took me about five minutes to walk all the way round, including stopping to admire said pig, say "aah" at the piglets and regret leaving my camera at home. They have two varieties of pig (pink and black with pink stripe, maybe saddleback? Not good at identifying pigs, except Tamworths which are easy cos they're ginger), fluffy sheep with lambs, big brown cows and a lovely smell of farmyard, all within sight of the Gherkin. What more could you want?

Unfortunately the farm's future seems to be under threat because of the planned Crossrail link. Which is a shame and very bad planning by someone. Obviously rail links need to be built somewhere*. But why through a rare and beautiful, if somewhat smelly piece of urban farmland?

EDIT: *Like bypasses

beautiful things

I've just been looking at while seated, which is full of beautiful photos of people and places.

And I thought about my blog and how I'd like it to be profound and beautiful and thought-provoking.

And then I thought about silly and pink and badly-written it is.

Perhaps there's room on the web for silly pink things.

Perhaps the writing will get better.

Perhaps someone will read it.

squatters' rights 2

The house over the road has got a little more colourful. On Sunday morning as we were getting ready go to church, two of the inhabitants were setting out an array of cuddly toys and other paraphernalia on the walls and window sills and a man in a dress with a guitar was singing drunkenly. We went and said hello and were told that the house had been bought by a German charity and it was going to become some sort of hostel or workshop for artists or drug addicts, depending on which bit of the slightly confused story you listened to. The man in the dress mentioned the drug addicts, which I think his companion realised might not go down very well since she was the one talking about a charity and artists.

Leaving aside whether they really have bought the house, (they originally got in round the back and I haven't actually seen them use the front door yet), I'm intrigued by the 'artists' story. It could be true, but part of me wonders whether these guys are using it as a tag to make the rest of the street feel less threatened. Calling yourself an artist could be a way to make otherwise non-conventional behaviour seem more acceptable. Most people would probably rather have an artistic community on their doorstep than a hostel for drug addicts, even though they might see the need for the latter.

So far, apart from the original breaking-in, there's been nothing to frighten anyone. This could be the beginning of a new artistic movement or a terrible nuisance or neither. I'm intrigued. What next?

squatters' rights

The house over the road has squatters in. It's been for let, but empty for a while, possibly months, maybe more. Not sure how long the squatters have been in. We noticed them last weekend. The police know they're there and apparently it's up to the owners of the building, who don't seem in much of a hurry to do anything. In lots of ways you can see their point. The house is completely empty, someone might as well make use of it. The new inhabitants seem to be just a couple of guys. I think now they know people know they're there, they're being less cautious about being seen in the house and walking around with the lights blazing. No-one seems very bothered and there's not much to be done. It all adds interest to the neighbourhood.

Help, I know nothing about cars!

I'm having one of those moments when I want to be able to borrow a man from somewhere. One who knows about cars, specifically bugs and their many constituent parts.

My bug is having tyre troubles. It had a new set of tyres recently, after the old ones were revealed to be mismatched, all the wrong sizes and wearing thin. Unfortunately, this revealed the old wheel rims to be corroded and in one case incapable of sealing properly. So now I'm trying to track down replacement wheel rims, which is tricky when they don't make them anymore and the only possible sources is dead bugs, whose wheel rims will be in a similar state to my current ones. So I've been phoning carbreakers and scrapyards in the hope of finding something suitable, trying desparately to sound like I know what I'm talking about and usually failing. So far, the only viable option seems to be some G2 wheels (?), dunno what they are, may have misheard. I'm going to see them tomorrow, if I can find my way to Plumstead.

And I really wish I had someone who knew stuff about cars and would make sure I didn't get ripped off, to come with me.

EDIT: A little more research suggests GT wheels. Which will make it look a little different from my current shiny hubcaps, but I think I'd rather have wheels that work than wheels that look good.