Big red suitcase

I've just bought a big red suitcase! It was from Debenhams and cost £50, reduced from £100! Bargain. I think it should last for years and is a good investment: plus it's red which is fab. I was tempted by the lurid pink but they only had them in small and they were slightly too bright even for me. Of course, I managed to drag one of the wheels through a patch of mud getting it home and then transfer the mud to my trousers carrying it up the stairs of my building, but never mind. Looking forward to tour now...

Also bought a lovely tshirt for £7 (another bargain) and a pretty shirt for work with slightly shiny bits on. I love shopping, even more so now I only get to do it once a month (soooo need to get paid more). I also love bank holidays! Hurrah. And I also love girly rock (have the Ny-Lon soundtrack on at the moment) and baked potatoes with prawns. Life is rather fab today.

Oboe reeds and washing machines don't mix

I just did a load of washing. While hanging it out I noticed there was a rather damp and mutilated oboe reed in the bottom of the basket. I think it's an old one that I put in my pocket after practising because there was no space for it in my case anymore and there was no bin in the room. Am I the first person to ever put a reed through the washing machine? If anyone else is contemplating it I'd say on balance it's not terribly healthy for the reed concerned: the tip has broken off and got all frayed, rendering it pretty much unplayable. Maybe this could be the strategy used by members of brasssoc if burning oboes doesn't work out!

Won't be doing that again...

Big Brother

Sweet lord, where do they find these weirdos?! Maybe if they put all the nutters like that in secure houses the rest of us could get on and live normal lives. You know I'll be watching it every night though...

Cocktails!

I thought I'd write down some of the lovely-sounding cocktails I read about yesterday. I got all these from the TGI Friday's website and have no idea about quantities of ingredients, but they all sound fab!

Barnamint Baileys - Baileys, mint liqueur, vanilla icecream, Oreo cookies.
Screaming Orgasm - vodka, Kahlua, Amaterro, Baileys. Apparently this is long and creamy!
FBI - Baileys, Kahlua, vodka, vanilla icecream. Stands for Frozen Black Irish.
Silver Mercedes - vodka, cranberry juice, orange sherbet, Champagne.

Anyone fancy a home cocktail-making session?!

The Monastery

Am watching The Monastery on BBC2. I would find it impossible to be a nun - I couldn't accept that praying all day was a better way of living life than falling in love and making the most of every opportunity I can, even though I am a Christian. I don't understand how anyone could do this - the cynical view would say they're all running away or have bad social skills, but I don't believe that, I think they genuinely feel called. It must be such a hard choice to make. The men in the experiment seem to be really benefiting though.

The other thing I have difficulty with is that they're so shut away in their monasteries. Surely it would be better to go out into the community and help people? Is praying for the world really as valuable as going out to trouble spots and working to help improve lives? I can certainly understand why people would feel called to do that.

Any thoughts?

Old man

Yesterday Owen and I were walking past Claycroft and I was holding Owen's arm. A random old man with facial hair walking the other way said, "Hold onto her son, she's a cracker!" I was highly amused and also quite pleased. :o) Just thought I'd share that with the world.

My friends

My friends are fab. I love knowing people who I can actually talk to and have mad fun evenings with! (Can you tell I was shy at school?!) I will miss you all when you have left...But hurrah, there are going to be lots of you around still so hopefully the fun will continue. Thankyou for all being so great! (Sob, cry, girly emotional business etc)

The importance of voting

I get so annoyed by people who decide not to vote. Both the "they're all rubbish" and the "I'm not interested" excuses are just a total cop-out. You're quite entitled to feel that no-one will do a good job, but surely you should pick the best of what's there to stop someone worse getting in, or stand yourself/form your own party as a better alternative. (I know this second option is rather extreme but it's surely better than not voting at all!) As for the not interested camp, I just have no respect for them whatsoever: politics affects everything from the amount of tax you pay to the way it's spent to house prices to the availability of abortions to the price of going to uni to public transport...I could go on for hours! I'm sure no-one would say they're not interested in any of this, therefore they should be making the effort to inform themselves about who represents their views best on these issues. One girl from work actually told me today that it didn't interest her at all, but she'd probably have views on it afterwards when they were messing it up! I could have screamed - you only have a right to complain afterwards if the party you voted for gets it wrong or breaks its promises, or if the party you voted for doesn't get in.

An interesting thought...should voting be compulsory? I strongly believe that it's the obligation of everyone who lives in a society that allows them to vote to do so, and that there can be no valid reason not to. If everyone was made to vote (don't ask me how this would work!) would we get a true picture of what people thought? I think there would have to be a "None of the above" option otherwise people would vote randomly, but at least it would be an accurate reflection of who feels unable to choose a party to represent them and who just hasn't previously been bothered. This would of course have to be coupled with a proper programme of political education in schools, so that people could learn about the views of all the parties and about the history of political representation both here and abroad. I'm sure if everyone was able to understand the joy of the black people of South Africa or the women of Britain at being able to vote for the first time they would make more effort.

This post is a bit of a departure from what I usually write about, but I just had to rant about this somewhere because I get so cross when intelligent people come up with rubbish excuses for not voting, or don't bother to inform themselves of the facts. Voting is your obligation to society and to the people of the world who have no voice. It's not too late to go online, read up on the policies of all the parties and make your mind up. Please vote tomorrow, make your voice heard and use the precious opportunity that you are so lucky to have.