There’s a nightmare on my street

It’s almost Halloween time again and strange things are occurring.  Spooky movies on television, scary candy in the grocery aisles, and strange things are afoot – at the Circle K?  Nope.  In our neighbourhood.

A few days ago I noticed that someone had moved in and, from the looks of it, had set up shop.  Brochures, knick knacks, company car, you name it.  I commented that the place now looks like Elle Woods’s dorm room (except this woman is old enough to know better.)  Now it looks like, well, a salon.  There are 50s Hollywood photos in the hall, a huge full-length mirror in the landing, funky plant type things here and there but, the best part, is the corner by the window (stuff on the windows, against the window, on the floor by the windows…)  I don’t even think Paula Deen would have this much country home junk in her dining room.  Steve pointed out that it’s like a fungus; the decorations just keep growing as they try to take over.

Needless to say, this is a block of flats so, again, this is right outside our front door.  For my Floridian friends, this would be like living in a hotel or a bed and breakfast like this so the hallway between your room and the room across from you was flooded with household wall coverings and big glass planters.  There are two flats per floor and 3/4 of the “common” area has been taken up with Ms. Woods’s decor.

While I won’t bother going into the details of what the company is, I will say that despite our overseer telling her to take down the brochures, the junk is still there.  We apparently have no rights or say over this.  We can’t even object to the art print sketch of the nude woman that I discovered this morning going up the stairway on the other side of our door this morning either. 

I’ve thought of plenty of things to do with said junk, but instead, I purchased Mr. Skeleton up here to counteract the tacky.  I’ve been tempted to do everything from putting cobwebs on the stuff in the window.  But now that we’ve experienced Elle coming over at 7PM just to vacuum the hallway (something we have done by a cleaning lady each week, by the way, and why would you worry about just the hallway if you weren’t setting up a business) we’ve just decided to annoy her.  I’ll make sure to walk through some extra dirt on the way in from bringing in my loud, light up Halloween decorations for our wall. Respectfully, Steve was playing loud punk music for a while too.  Bless him.

And if you don’t remember, this is the Nightmare on My Street original.

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October’s almost over again.

This time last year I was married and getting my paperwork set up for my Visa.  Wow, how I don’t miss that struggle to get everything in order.  I think I had a vodka and orange juice each night to curb the stress.  I was happy and excited but so convinced something was going to be overlooked and I’d mess the whole process up.  Plus I had the paperwork to get Jake over here with me.  That was a double whammy.

But look how it all turned out fine. I’m here in our computer room, typing away, waiting for Steve to get back from his work dinner (he had steak – I had a couple of eggs that broke when I dropped the carton on the kitchen floor.)  Jake seems to have settled in just fine.  He’s back to his over exuberant actions in search for attention and he seems pretty content.  (Still wondering if he needs a sister cat.)

So this year will be my first Christmas in England.  I’m really excited.  It’s been years since I’ve seen snow so that will be a big experience for me.  Plus there are so many nice, Christmas events going on around here.  We can go to tree lightings, enchanted parks, midnight mass, and visit Santa’s grotto too.  It’s nice to have a seasons and a vibe about Christmas that we don’t quite get in Florida.  Granted, having holidays in Florida is nice because we aren’t stuck in 10 feet of snow but the feeling of a proper Christmas isn’t the same as it was when I was in Ohio. 

I’m going to miss Thanksgiving though but I’ve made arrangements for us to have dinner here just as it should be.  Just wonder if the Macy’s Parade will be live streamed for me and available in the UK.

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Because I’m already awake

Because I’m already awake I’ll write a little update.  Yesterday we had to experience the intrusion that is the potential salon next door so needless to say, I’m a little uneasy.  (I’ll update more on that once I figure out what’s going on.  All I know is that our block now looks like Elle Wood’s dorm room with tacky pictures and cutesy decor all over. Yes, such things stress me out.)

But it’s already 7:00 AM so I have to get myself ready for my usual visit to the gym.  Without working it does become increasingly dull to not have anywhere to go each day, so I’m glad to have my gym membership to keep me motivated. Plus, the visit to the library and the walk back through the park is really nice.  It helps me keep my reading up and my brains busy before I get back home and back to my own work here.

Anyway, we’ve been thinking about getting another cat for Mr. Jake but I’m still not sure.  He wakes us up constantly every morning, at 5AM, 6AM, 7AM…  I feel bad because I wonder if he’s lonely. I also wonder if he’d beat another cat up – tom cats aren’t usually known for their sparkling personalities, are they?  Anyway, if an opportunity does come up for us to look into having a sister cat, we may.  I just know if I got one from a shelter and Jake had a fit, I’d never bring a cat back to the SPCA.  Such a dilemma.

Maybe we should just get a dog. (Just kidding, Steve!)

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My playlist needs and upgrade

It’s been a while since I’ve written a music post so I may as well do one now.  I have a playlist that I listen to each time I go to the gym.  I’ve listened to this since I’ve been here in January.  I use to have an XM radio where I could find new music to snag here and there but, alas, I am out of touch with the outside hip music world.  I can look Alt Nation’s playlists but discovering a song I like is so much more rewarding.  So since I’m out of touch, I need new music and I need suggestions.  For now this is what I play when I’m on the elliptical machine or when I’m sitting here at the computer (in order of importance):

Arcade Fire “Rococo” – I always start my music listening time with this.

Arcade Fire “Rebellion (Lies)” – Wow, this band is so good.

The Black Keys “Everlasting Light” – There’s a certain feeling you get when this album starts that is like no other.

The Black Keys “Tighten Up”

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Y Control”

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Down Boy”

Kasabian – “Underdog”

Kasabian “Vlad the Impaler” – Can’t listen to this w/o thinking of Noel Fielding chasing people with a stake.

Interpol “Lights” – Love this!

Interpol “Barricade”

She Wants Revenge “Save Your Soul”

The National “Anyone’s Ghost” – My favourite National song.

Matt and Kim “Good Ol Fashion Nightmare”

Santigold “Lights Out”

Crystal Castles w/ Robert Smith “Not In Love”

White Stripes “Death Letter” – This is listed last because I’ve heard it a million times already. Still one of my favourite songs though.

There are more by each band that I’ll play here and there but generally this is what I make sure to listen to before I switch off the iPod.  I have the Zune player now for looking up new stuff so what will it be next?

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Things of motivation

With NaNoWriMo coming up and NaBloPoMo sitting here becoming a bit of a hassle to make sure and get a post in by midnight, I decided to write down some motivational quotes and information to believe in the effort.

Margaret Mitchell: Gone With the Wind was faced rejection 38 times.

“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.” – Pearl S. Buck

“When I began to write, some people humored me. “You’ve always been such a dreamer!” Some discouraged me. “Do you know what the odds are…do you know how many would-be writers there are out there?” Some were actually angry. “What makes you think you can write?” – Judy Blume

J.K. Rowling: J.K. Rowling submitted Harry Potter to 12 publishing houses, all of which rejected it.

“I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. I had pieces that were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out.” – Erica Jong

“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.” – Steve Martin

Anne Frank: One of the most famous people to live in an attic, Anne Frank’s diary had 15 rejections.

“Ever tried and failed? No matter. Try again and fail better.” – Samuel Beckett

Meg Cabot: The bestselling author of The Princess Diaries keeps a mail bag of rejection letters.

William Golding: William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times before becoming published.

“Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the most. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
William Faulkner

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