I took some photos, which I think are rather pretty.
( Then I put them behind this cut because they're quite big and I don't want to break your internets )
And that is all I have to say on the matter of frozen precipitation in the South Wales area.
Travel plans move on apace, and Mr G says visa applications are sent. I have a list of things to do in preparation for the trip as long as my arm. Dull stuff, including sorting insurance, telling the bank withdrawals will be made from exotic locations and booking airport parking. We picked up the tickets on Saturday and await the arrival of the tour itinerary to I can go through the travel books we have and annotate them like the crazy control freak I am.
The fun part, which I have yet to sort, is what reading matter I will take with me. I like to take series books. Last year I made my way through all four Twilight books (not so good) in Mexico (also not so good) whereas the year before I read all of His Dark Materials (unbelievably awesome) in Thailand (best holiday ever).
With that in mind I'm seeking recommendations for books to take. Grown-up books or young adult is fine. Ask me any questions on what I like to read you think might help and I would love to hear what you suggest.
Still no internet at home, which is irritating. The pain was somewhat alleviated tonight by having secured tickets to a free BAFTA screening of Szm Rockwell's new movie Milk through Chapter Arts Centre's Twitter earlier on. I knew Twitter would turn out to be useful eventually ;)
There's not much I can say about the film without totally giving the game away. All I can say is that it's set on a moonbase in the near future, is very thought provoking, fantastic to look at and I squeaked like a little girl who'd been promised a pony when I saw Matt Berry's name roll in the credits at the start. I really do fangasm over the most random people.
After the film we went to get Lebanese food, which was yummy, and chatted a bit. It was nice to be out of the house and able to talk properly over dinner. I sometimes worry that most of our communication is through monosyllabic grunts and shared links on MSN. Even when we're in the same room.
Seems like things are shaping up for the weekend. Hoping to catch up withminlliw finally and give her some love. Preferably the kind that's slightly inappropriate for two married women to share ;)
Our home phone line, and therefore the broadband, is broken due to a "serious exchange fault". It makes me realise how much I rely on the 'net when I let out a frustrated howl upon the realisation that I couldn't Google for the fault reporting number. Roll on the day I can get a connection straight into my head.
This evening Mr G and I went to our local bookshop, Borders, which announced today it is to close down and that there was 50% off all stock. By the time we got there it was like the scene of a middle-class ram-raid. Large sections were already decimated and under the pressure of time and constant tannoy announcements that the store would be closing very soon and that the queues were very long I found it hard to choose anything. Mr G, however, suffered none of my paralysis and as a result we came away with a massive haul including three travel books on Vietnam for our travels in November and December, two books on the Vietnam War, a complete set of Wainwright walking guides to the Lake District (probably for gifts as we already have a set), four of the seven West Wing season box sets, the film Hunger, Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain, Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory and Teach Yourself books on NLP and creative writing, the last three of these being my only choices. Oh, and the Taschen Big Book of Breasts. Not my choice, but I do approve.
I bought the creative writing book to see if it can kick-start me. I had a very defeatist conversation with terraswrath a few days ago about my inability to write and how I could never write anything novel-length. I'm still dubious, but also annoyed with myself for writing myself off without even thinking about it seriously, let alone trying. I'm not promising myself anything but keeping a journal is coming more easily to me now than it used to so maybe that's a sign there's something to develop.
In the absence of an Internet connection, we sat down tonight and watched Hunger. It's an unrelentingly grim film, all long shots with little action and no soundtrack interspersed with brutal naked violence. It was somehow compelling, though, and Michael Fassbender put in a stunning performance.
Anyway, iPhone keyboard is making my eyes go screwy and it's not as early a night as it was. Time to retire, methinks.