I am Not Little Linki

Last Night

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:57:36 GMT

Last Night, originally uploaded by Malinki.

I went to Subversion with the puppy and my 'partner in grime'. We had so much fun... I am so bruised today it is just not funny but it was terribly good fun at the time :)

Smile!

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:25:00 GMT

Smile! , originally uploaded by Malinki.

Pre-Subversion. I am actually looking pretty sweet and innocent! It went down hill from there. Under the red jacket I was wearing my new corset which is 6 inches smaller than my last one. I have slightly bruised ribs now! Subversion was fabulous, not least because Mr Boots brought a pretty girl for me to toy with. She was introduced to me in the street with Mr Boots saying to her "Ivy, this is your going away present!" - next time I want a bow!

You know you are exhausted when...

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:18:18 GMT

... you wonder why your mouthwash looks thicker than normal and realise it is handwashing laundry detergent you were about to swill.

...Fall asleep on the train and wake up with the imprint of a coffee cup holder on your forehead

...Walk into stuff (x4) so the most impressive bruise you have to not caused by acts of debauchery but the coffee table

...Risk drowning by falling asleep in the bath, wake up with Radox in your eyes

In other news:

There is no such thing sub solidarity. The E-Stim pinwheels on full did hurt (a lot) - I just pretended it didn't so acquiescentIvy would get it instead. It worked. I enjoyed listening to her scream - I think I am developing a sadistic streak when it comes to pretty girls!

100 things

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:55:36 GMT

1. I have had a really good week

2. In the last 7 days I have been to... one games evening

3. ...London Munch

4. ...Subversion

5. I met lots of nice people

6. I met up with some cool people I already know

7. I played speed scrabble

8. ...badly

9. I am not very good at board games

10. Or mind games, as it turns out

11. Told the world how I lost my virginity

12. Learnt something interesting about Japanese culture

13. Went to a gay bar

14. Spoke to very drunk men

15. Was given pension advice by very drunk man

16. Caused a panic

17. Got a night bus for the first time

18. Got home safely

19. Went swimming

20. Realised swimming makes we feel kinda sexy

21. Realised I manage very well on very little sleep

22. Bought new heels

23. Went to London Munch alone, left with nice people

24. Spoke Russian

25. ...Badly

26. Spoke to so many people, I began to lose my voice

27. Went to a crazy bowling place

28. Lack of sleep caught up with me

29. Had Kebab shouted in my ear several times

30. Stumbled through Bloomsbury due to sleep deprivation

31. Watched people paddle in the Centre Point fountain

32. Spoke to cute gay boys

33. Told them I was kinky

34. Got a night bus for the second time

35. Had ice-cream for lunch

36. Bought new underwear...

37. ...Polka dots!

38. ...Yay!

40. Had a bath

41. Nearly knocked myself out with hairspray inhalation...

42. ...not good

43. Curled my hair

44. Camwhored

45. Dragged myself out of the house

46. ...late

47. Arrived early

48. Got a promising text

49. Promptly thought I must be wrong

50. Saw MichaelCane in a kilt

51. Saw lots of cute outfits

52. Pinged a rubber t-shirt

52. ...semi-consensually

53. Looked at a nice lady's piercings

54. ...very nice

55. Got some air

56. Got some Littleboots

57. Got some acquiescentIvy

58. Lots of kisses

59. Yum

60. Tied to cross thingy

61. Blindfolded

62. Pegs and string

63. Ouch!

64. More Ouch

65. Quite a lot of yum

66. More than one set of hands

67. Second set belong to someone pretty, yay!

68. Undone

69. More kissing

70. Stoking hair

71. Kissing

72. Metal claws!

72. Cute squirmy girl

73. Nasty Mr Boots!

75. Kisses

76. Yum!!

77. Let's go home

78. Coffee making, general kitchen chatter

79. Upstairs

80. 3 pairs of legs

81 - 97. Your wouldn't believe me even if I told you

98. My bra is making me flinch

99. My boss tells us if we screw up, she will take us out and spank us

100. Off my tits with happiness, oxytocin and endorphins

Studies in Colour

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 09:14:11 GMT

Post Box, originally uploaded by Malinki.

I was playing with my new camera and all its cool settings and I came up with this. I love the way something so simple yet iconic comes to life by removing the background colours - it seems more red, if that is possible.

My postal obsession is constantly growing - I have sent out 36 letters out over the last week and a bit! I think all this word processing made me miss paper and pen and the pleasure of getting letters that aren't bank statements or bills.

The sky from my window this evening...

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:50:31 GMT

The view from my window tonight, originally uploaded by Malinki.

I have never seen so many beautiful skies over Coventry as I have this week. Is this a new thing or did I just never see them before? Maybe I never thought to notice until this late stage. This evening as the sun was setting, the sky was amazing. Still blue above but red towards the horizon.

Vibrant

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:39:36 GMT

Vibrant, originally uploaded by Malinki.

New camera - horrah! Canon PowerShot A640. A week or so ago, I went to see my friend, Emma. Behind where Emma lives, there is a field. I noticed when I went past that it was full of beautiful purple wild flowers. Today it was gloriously warm and sunny, so me and the new camera went for an outing to take some pictures! It was a lot of fun. These flowers were only tiny, just over a centimetre across. The field was beautiful - I will have to try to go back there again before I leave.

Seeing the world from a different perspective....

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:34:26 GMT

Tiny Insect, originally uploaded by Malinki.

My new camera has excellent macro function - this little insect was so small I couldn't pick him out on the stem eaily with my own eyes - he is only about 4mm long. But through my new lens there he is, slowing making his way up that long stem. I am glad I can see him now!

Nostalgia

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:30:27 GMT

I am going to miss this place, originally uploaded by Malinki.

I am packing up to leave. I realised I have lived in this flat for almost the same amount of time as I lived in my parents new house. I will miss this place. Last night, I was cleaning the living room and moving my stuff into one place ready to be put in boxes and I had a huge wave of nostalgia - I will miss this place - our balcony, my bedroom, having lots of my own space - it was my first real home of my own.

*Sigh*

The sky from my window

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 13:08:44 GMT

The sky from my window, originally uploaded by Malinki.

At 5am this morning I was still awake, blah. I am having patchy insomnia at the moment. Anyway, I looked out of the window and saw this - the most beautiful sunrise from my bedroom window.

I have lived here for three years and I have never seen anything like it. In three weeks time I will move out of this flat for good. I am so glad that before I left I got to see this!

In other news - got my arm stuck down the back of the bed. Now blessed with a huge bruise all the way around the top of my arm:(

Overheard...

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:54:49 GMT

Boss: I thought you were a vegetarian.

Employee: That doesn't mean I wouldn't kick a possum!

I am up late...

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 01:30:05 GMT

... because I found Facebook and stacks of old school and uni friends and it all got a little bit out of control.

Next on Channel 5... When Academia Goes Wrong.

Sat, 12 May 2007 23:17:18 GMT

I am so sick of people saying Eurovision is all unfair (boo-hoo) because it is sooo Political, blah blah!

It's actually way more complex than that, I am not convinced that people sit there thinking, "I am going to vote politically or for nextdoor" . Territorial and supra-national affiliations (such as pan-slavic, Baltic peoples, Balkan, Soviet peoples etc.) are strong and imbedding in the identity of given populations. As Gillis (an identity theorist) said "identities are not something we think about, they are things we think with". It is not as simple as political voting in a conscious way, it is a genuine sense of identification and often common memory and recent history. It is not even that they are thinking X-country was better but I am going to vote for Y because they are nextdoor, it is actually more likely that they are thinking, X is brilliant, the group's last song was great, I have heard it on the radio, etc. It is their favourite song. I am not sure that will ever change, it is too fundamental and actually deeply rooted in identities well beyond Eurovision.

On top of which, music distrubution contributes heavily to the whole thing. Music is distributed across national boarders and often receives heavy airplay before the competition. I was living in Ukraine last year, and I knew ever word of the Russian entry before it was ever appeared on Eurovision, as it was on the radio all the time, so people vote because it's familiar - they know and like the song already. Also, in most places apart from the UK, where we don't take Eurovision very seriously, they often put forward pretty famous singers. Ukraine's entry this year Verka, is incredibly famous and popular already all over the former Soviet Union and supposedly Marija from Serbia is very well know all across that region. Also, it is partially about music taste. I was quite surprised how similar the Serbian entry was to 'Rozhazhu' by Ani Lorak, who is one of the most popular female artists in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. It had a very popular sound in terms of music of that region.

Oh I am such a nerd, not a Eurovision nerd so much as a European Identity Politics nerd...

*edited to add - honestly I don't take it seriously in a musical way and love the Wogan and the mean-ness - it just happens to relate to my specialist subject *

It goes something like this....

Sat, 05 May 2007 20:22:12 GMT

Wake up
Shower
Brush Teeth - marvel at my new toothbrush
Get Dressed
Work - interspersed with drinking Robinson's Pear and Apple Squash
Lunch*
Work
Dinner
T.V - get bored and go back to work
Wash Face
Brush Teeth - Marvel again at new toothbrush
Go to bed.

*on Thursday it was Vote. Lunch.

Repeat until September.

I have no life.

Boring Uke Post...

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 22:56:52 GMT

I was reading an article in the Observer a couple of months ago about Ukes taking over from recorders as the musical instrument of choice in schools. How cool... Like the freakish social experiment I am, I learned the Ukulele at school when I was 4 years old for a couple of years. I remember first practicing on Mr and Mrs Evan's ukuleles (the Ukulele teachers who's son rode a unicycle, so for some reason until recently I associated unicycles and ukuleles, anyway...) So now it is becoming fashonable, I guess, but I got my first Ukulele for Christmas 1985, I remember it was pale wood and shiny and I loved it. I got to play it with the school Ukulele group, we played "Lord of the Dance" (it was a Catholic school after all). I remember thinking I was very clever to be up on stage playing and singing.

All this uke-ing was forgotten until in November me and Schmoo were wondering around Hoxton, laughing at a girl who looked like a 1940s SwissAir stewardess, and we stumbled across The Duke of Uke, well I was looking in windows and a shiny, happy, pink Ukulele. Must have, must have... so for Christmas I got my second Uke, really an experiment - if I love this little ply-wood bargin, named "Tubby" then I will save up all my pennies and buy myself a better one. Actually, I bought a green one for Schmoo because he wants to set up a Ukulele playing Sonic Youth tribute band called Sonic Uke... more on that later...

I started playing all the songs I played 21 years ago, London's Burning (1 chord), Skip to my Lou (2 chords)... ergh... I remember distinctly believing I was a talented musician (aged 4) because I could strum my little heart out and make a tune. Now I just seem a little sad.... I have been practicing for hours a day... hours and hours... I have always said I was not a musical person, mostly because (I think) Mr and Mrs Evans left and I had to play the recorder. If you play a Ukulele with childish over-enthusiasm it seems to help, if you blow a recorder in the same way, you sound terrible. Eventually, my little sister pulled all the strings off my Uke and it was banished to the attic (I wonder if it is still there?).

So me and Tubby are taking on the world. I don't want to conquer the musical world with my little pink friend, but being able to jam or have it to sing to when I am in a creative, singing mood. I can play proper songs now, yipee! I even have sore fingers, I will be developing new callouses in different positions from the ones I have from knitting Schmoo's xmas scarf.... Am droooling over potential next Ukes.... mmm.... suggestions welcome.

Did playing the Ukulele as a child help me? Returning to the social experiment aspect of the blog... urm... in terms of confidence, probably, though it is hard to say... musically probably not... but then it was a short lived experience, although weirdly even though I hadn't touched one in over twenty years, when I got Tubby, I believed I could play him, simple as that.

The Shatner!

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:20:40 GMT

While pottering around Birmingham today I was looking at the magazines in Borders (actually was reading Chaps) and lo and behold, nestled behind Chaps was this little gem. Our beloved Shatner on the cover of the bafflingly pointless, Cigar Aficionado... This one is for you Weeg.

Christmatosis

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:37:03 GMT

I was looking at the teevee listings this evening to see if Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall is on tonight (he is, so I can spend an hour being a smug vegetarian while my housemate cowers behind a cushion during the inevitable abattoir scene, "Now let's see how little Mabel will become chicken nuggets; turn on the industrial grinder, Barry"). Then I saw this programme listed - This World: Religion and Fashion - A Tale of Two Turkeys - I genuinely thought it was a programme about real turkeys, well two real turkeys... it took a most un-Doctorly 5 minutes to work out they meant the country. I am disappointed; I wanted to watch a programme about a fashion turkey, pump and perky, dash of rouge...

Tomorrow, I am off to see MrX for the weekend... plans so far for Hoxton, comedy and much snuggling. A possible trip to Coffee, Cake and Kink, mostly to scare the 'nillas and tourists and the guys trying to persuade their girlfriends to try something a little more adventurous that quick-release fur lined Ann Summer's cuffs and M&S hold-ups, teling them they will just pop in and look at the art work. Last time people were staring at MrX and I and we were just snuggling with each other. This time I am going to lick carrot cake frosting off his very sexy Chelsea boots or something equally show-offy.

The plans for the weekend can be summed up in the picture I made (from this weekend's Guardian magazine and free wildlife stickers). I call this one Snuggle Monkeys in the City.

Whodda Thunk It!

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:55:36 GMT

Well, the pen did come off.

Knitting tonight was full of Chav window bouncing (supposedly a new sport whereby a hoodie clad bad boy launches himself at a plate glass frontage to see how hard he can 'bounce' without breaking the window, whilst non-hoodie bystanders watch on to see if he fails in his noble mission and ends up bleeding all the way to the hospital, which has now been moved out of the city so his chances with severe lacerations are about 50-50). We had 11 knitters and a dog called Luna who doesn't like doing left alone so comes too. We have to pretend she is some kind of guide dog, even though she is a crazy lurcher type thing, who has her own knitted leg warmers, "Her legs get cold because they are sooo long" declares Thetis proudly, somewhat akin to Gisele Bündchen's manager. I have been pootling away on the scarf for MrX for a week now and it is about 6 inches long. Other knitters are far more prolific, competitive maybe... "Needles of Steel" or NS as she shall be know, is a highly competitive machine knitter; she has a perchant for gadgets, a machine to sew seams (everyone oooh and ahhh-ed as this was demonstrated), each week NS turns up with 5 or 6 FO's (Finished Objects - knitting has its own language, it makes it seem cooler or something... "Yaa, it all went like so wrong. I had to frog it" meaning "I screwed up and unpicked it"). Kallie is a traditionalist, she spins and knits her own mostly for the purposes of reinactment; she is a not-so-secret LARPy grown up with a pet wolf. We have Cara, the funky knitter, currently knitting her own sandwiches, but thinking of branching out into cami knickers. Thetis is knitting a huge blanket of many colours; Mandy (a new knitter) knits things that scare me - a garter stitch baby jumper that looks like it was creating for an infant Joseph Merrick ("the neck shaping went a bit lumpy") and things out of spangly funfur. Topics for this evening: can a contraceptive cap be used a mooncup (supposedly yes but remember to rinse and powder between uses), is Northern Ireland the new Southern Ireland (a discussion not of devolution or unification, but was NI chic) and finally baby names, Thetis' friend had just called her babies Lorcan and Fionnula (which sounds like a Brazilian Exotic Dancer, but is in fact Irish), much discussion was given over to tiffin recipes. I need to post my gentleman's tiffin recipe on the knitting club website, supposedly it is awfully good with gingernuts and orange chocolate.

This is my recipe if anyone is interested, makes about 24 squares, posts well, ensure it is wrapped in brown paper and string for a more charming boarding school tuck box effect:

Ingredients: 8oz unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons golden syrup, 8oz quality plain chocolate (50-60% cocoa solids), 300g pack rich tea biscuits, 2oz blanched hazelnuts, chopped, 2oz dried apricots, chopped, 2oz dessicated coconut.

Cut butter in cubes, break up chocolate, and place, together with the syrup in a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of not quite simmering water. Let it all melt together gently while you prepare the other ingredients. Crush the biscuits to crumbs. You can either do this in a food processor or by putting the biscuits in a polythene bag and crushing with a rolling pin. Either way, it speeds up the whole process if you roughly crumble them with your hands first. Now just stir all the ingredients together till well mixed. Pour into a 8" square cake tin, lined with clingfilm. Let it set in a cool place.

Any other recipes for confectionary suitable for the discerning gentleman is most appreciated x

Mysteries Walking On My Hands Again...

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:32:47 GMT