Insomnia

I used to suffer from insomnia. Now, it’s all I can do to stay awake past 11 p.m.

The cure? I wouldn’t recommend it necessarily, but it appears to be a mixture of a ‘bodyclock’, a stressful new job and a 13 week old puppy.

I actually sometimes miss my insomnia, there’s a peaceful quality about the early hours of the morning that you just don’t get any other time of the day. Now I see a different set of early hours, which are still peaceful but in a different way. I also see the sunrise every day now. But it seems an awfully long time from now till bedtime… Yawn.

Moi?

Read My Result
Take the Test

In the bleak mid-Winter

Yesterday was the shortest day/longest night. There is some comfort in that, as it means that from now on the days can only get longer. But the weeks after Christmas are always a long, bleak time before the first signs of Spring arrive.

Winter is definitely upon us – the freezing fog that is grinding the transport networks to a halt and ruining people’s holiday plans is all-pervasive at the moment. Every street looks like the film set for a Victorian London period drama (“Cor blimey Guv’nor, it’s a right pea-souper out there!”) and visibility is down to about 4 feet at worst. The cold is biting and harsh, and I feel very sorry for those people who do not or can not have the luxuries of heating, hot drinks and warm blankets.

Despite all this, and in true British stiff upper lip style grit, people continue to hit the shops in their desperate attempt to buy enough goods to survive the Nuclear winter that is the two days that the shops are closed for (in fact many shops open on Boxing Day so in fact are only shut for one day!). The roads are grid-locked, people are punching each other over the last turkey in the shop and you can’t get brandy butter for love nor money. It’s a crazy time – I’m enjoying just watching it all happen and not participating.

Yikes! – 2 weeks to Christmas Day!

Gimme that bauble!

Originally uploaded by prrincess purrplechick.

Where has the time gone? Only 13 days of preparation left and so much left to do!

We’ve bought a small Christmas tree that we can put on a table so that Dexter doesn’t just eat the baubles – although he tried to pinch them when Ade decorated the tree.

We still have so much shopping to do, and the shops at this time of year are horrendously busy. I hate shopping at Christmas, but there are some things I *have* to get from the shops. We try to get as much as we can on the Internet, but it’s a pain getting it delivered when we’re both at work all day.

For some reason I feel quite unbothered by Christmas this year. I think there are a number of reasons: getting older; getting increasingly fed up with the excess commercialism; trying so hard to think of fantastic presents for the people who quite literally have everything… Also I never get to spend Christmas day with my own family – the last time I was with my parents (who go abroad for Christmas) on Christmas day was 5 years ago. However this year I should hopefully be seeing my sisters in the days shortly after Christmas for the first time in years

I have my work Christmas party on Friday (always a messily drunken affair) – maybe that will help get me in the Christmas spirit

24 hour processing

Part 2 of the 24 Hour Processing experiment has ended. Long live 24HP!

24 Hour Processing was an idea conceived in a coffee shop about 7 months ago. The brief was simple: take a photo a day every day for a month and post them to the Flickr group. However, there were rules to adhere to, the simplest of which was that the photo should somehow illustrate your day, and the pictures must be added to the group by the deadline of midnight (local time to where you are) on that day. Other rules were made up, added, argued, broken and enforced at will by members of the group as the experiment went on.

So successful was 24HP1 that we decided to have a second attempt. This one was harder, taking place as it did in November when all group members suffered from the nights getting longer and the days shorter. Lack of natural light forced more indoor shots, which limited options somewhat. 24HP2 seemed a harder slog than 24HP1; there were arguments and tears, but also laughter.

The last shot – the brief was to sum up your personality, and 24HP2 – was posted yesterday (an extended deadline to allow for more thinking time), and marked the end of 24HP2. All that is left now is to vote for the awards.

I found 24HP2 a bit of an ordeal, for various reasons. But damn I miss it! Having to post a photo of your day, every day, pushes you to think about what you are doing; how you can represent that pictorially; and what new techniques you can use to push the boundaries a bit more. I enjoy the group dynamic, and the sense of carmaraderie; and also the fact that although the pictures are posted to a public Flickr group, the feedback received is supportive and encouraging – it’s almost a ’safe’ environment.

Tonight, as I cooked dinner, I caught myself thinking about what I could post for today, and felt a real sense of disappointment when I realised that no picture was required. (I also felt some relief, I have to be honest!)

So, here endeth 24HP2. It has been suggested that 24HP3 takes place next March – I look forward to it with an equal amount of dread and anticipation.