Friday, April 02, 2010
The countdown begins
As promised, here's this week's update. I now have a start date of 26th July, which means I now have a leaving date (ish) of around a week before that. As more and more things get arranged and I plan to see more and more people before I go, I've had to invest in a much more detailed diary. The handbag-sized one just wasn't going to cut it anymore! All of the paperwork's being dealt with, and the jabs are all booked. A couple of things down, a million more to go...
Friday, March 26, 2010
Relocation relocation
Although typically uncommon with countries, I can confirm that Munchkin Country is relocating. Get yourself ready for cowboy hats and astronauts, as in approximately 16 weeks Munchkin Country will be moving from Bristol to Houston in Texas! Sun, space shuttles and a dream job of doing breast cancer research here we come :D
I'll be making an effort to keep my blog updated each week before and after the move, for anyone who wants to keep up to date with any progress.
I'll be making an effort to keep my blog updated each week before and after the move, for anyone who wants to keep up to date with any progress.
Friday, September 12, 2008
That's Dr to you!
It's (un)official! After 4 years of working, ranting, tears and stress (and quite a lot of beer...) I'm going to get a PhD! Now I just need to get a job, and at some point maybe I'll be a proper grown up!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Where to go next?
I'm starting to believe that I might one day finish my PhD and get to go on holiday! Only problem now is that there needs to be a decision regarding where to go. I'm currently thinking hot and not too touristy, preferably in a self-catering villa and not too far from the beach. Any suggestions?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
If you say the word costume, I'll run away
The university dance society show has, once again, come and gone. Usually I'm sad when a show's finished, because all that work and that really fun/pretty dance is probably never going to be danced again (at least not by me anyway). But the end of this year's show does bring with it an element of relief.
For some stupid reason, when ballet costumes were mentioned I came out with "if you tell me what you want, I can probably make skirts". Now there's a line I may never utter again! Not that I didn't enjoy making them, but when you're (still) trying to finish a PhD, 14 ballet skirts are possibly a little more work than is advisable... And then came the mention of leotards. My ballet teacher seems to be one of those people who can be a little away with the fairies at times, and didn't seem to have really considered how we were getting leotards that would go with the incredibly awkward colour she'd chosen for the skirts. It seemed to be one of those things that would just magically happen. So, in a fit of more than slight panic, a whole load of white leotards got ordered, as did some cold water dye. But 14 leotards obviously can't all be dyed in a washing up bowl unless you do them 2 at a time, and given the need to leave them in the dye for half an hour, that didn't seem a feasible option. My (exceptionally helpful, I must add) boyfriend, came up with the suggestion of a giant builder's bucket which could be put in the bath to keep any splashes off the floor. He also then had to go out to Avonmouth to pick the leotards up, so that I didn't have to drive out in my lunch time.
All in all, it was remarkably successful. I ended up with something reminiscent of a giant yellow cauldron in my bath, and an attempt to get 14 leotards on one clothes horse at once (following which they ended up on various radiators all over my parents' house), but thankfully it did all seem to work in the end. But next time someone says the word costume, expect me to make a bee-line for the nearest cupboard!
For some stupid reason, when ballet costumes were mentioned I came out with "if you tell me what you want, I can probably make skirts". Now there's a line I may never utter again! Not that I didn't enjoy making them, but when you're (still) trying to finish a PhD, 14 ballet skirts are possibly a little more work than is advisable... And then came the mention of leotards. My ballet teacher seems to be one of those people who can be a little away with the fairies at times, and didn't seem to have really considered how we were getting leotards that would go with the incredibly awkward colour she'd chosen for the skirts. It seemed to be one of those things that would just magically happen. So, in a fit of more than slight panic, a whole load of white leotards got ordered, as did some cold water dye. But 14 leotards obviously can't all be dyed in a washing up bowl unless you do them 2 at a time, and given the need to leave them in the dye for half an hour, that didn't seem a feasible option. My (exceptionally helpful, I must add) boyfriend, came up with the suggestion of a giant builder's bucket which could be put in the bath to keep any splashes off the floor. He also then had to go out to Avonmouth to pick the leotards up, so that I didn't have to drive out in my lunch time.
All in all, it was remarkably successful. I ended up with something reminiscent of a giant yellow cauldron in my bath, and an attempt to get 14 leotards on one clothes horse at once (following which they ended up on various radiators all over my parents' house), but thankfully it did all seem to work in the end. But next time someone says the word costume, expect me to make a bee-line for the nearest cupboard!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 03, 2007
Edward Monkton's monthly words of wisdom
Well, it's the first Monday of the month, and I've remembered to change at least one of the calendars in the office. This is what Edward Monkton had to share with me this morning:
It's not sounding too good to me. I'm sure handbags shouldn't make you cry...
It's not sounding too good to me. I'm sure handbags shouldn't make you cry...
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Munchkin tours 2007 - part 3
Having been away at greenbelt for a week I've just finished trawling through all the emails (mainly from facebook!) and looking through the official photos from the festival. Can't see any pictures of me on the site yet this year, but that will hopefully be rectified by the time the rest of the photos have been uploaded.
The festival was, once again, amazing, although in a completely different way to last year. There was dressing up as a pirate, dancing around to bands with random names like rubber duck and the Kanda bongo man, and some hilarious stuff at a Richard and Judy style variety thing at the end of each day called last orders, including this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuayUmT8fWE
Saw some fantastic bands, who unfortunately very few of my friends have heard of but I'll try to rectify that. Favourites included:
Rubber Duck
Kanda Bongo Man
Rebecca Worthley (a friend of mine!)
Michael McDermott
Denison Witmer
The Gentlemen
Verra Cruz
This Beautiful Republic
Beth Rowley
and of course the highlight of the weekend, Duke Special!
I managed to get right to the front for Duke Special, and it was one of the best sets I've ever seen. I want to be a musician just because being in his band looks so much fun! I was a bit concerned after I'd told everyone I spoke to to go and see him because he's so good that they'd then not like him, but everyone seems to have loved him! The greenbelt facebook group is fast becoming the Duke Special appreciation group instead!
We had a great time site vibing too! This is what we do before the festival - we go round putting up flags and bunting and things like that to make the place pretty and less racecoursey. Although it does mean that I've been sleeping in a tent for a week, which is not so good, hence the 11 1/2 hour sleep last night!
One piece of advice - be very wary of the organic cider. 2 pints and I was as drunk as I normally get on 4 or 5 pints of beer! It did make carrying the flag we commandeered from someone quite funny, especially when we forgot it and left it outside the toilets on the way back to the tent and had to go back and find it at 4 am!
That may be enough camping for 1 year - I'm hoping any further parts of Munchkin tours 2007 involve real beds and proper showers!!
The festival was, once again, amazing, although in a completely different way to last year. There was dressing up as a pirate, dancing around to bands with random names like rubber duck and the Kanda bongo man, and some hilarious stuff at a Richard and Judy style variety thing at the end of each day called last orders, including this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuayUmT8fWE
Saw some fantastic bands, who unfortunately very few of my friends have heard of but I'll try to rectify that. Favourites included:
Rubber Duck
Kanda Bongo Man
Rebecca Worthley (a friend of mine!)
Michael McDermott
Denison Witmer
The Gentlemen
Verra Cruz
This Beautiful Republic
Beth Rowley
and of course the highlight of the weekend, Duke Special!
I managed to get right to the front for Duke Special, and it was one of the best sets I've ever seen. I want to be a musician just because being in his band looks so much fun! I was a bit concerned after I'd told everyone I spoke to to go and see him because he's so good that they'd then not like him, but everyone seems to have loved him! The greenbelt facebook group is fast becoming the Duke Special appreciation group instead!
We had a great time site vibing too! This is what we do before the festival - we go round putting up flags and bunting and things like that to make the place pretty and less racecoursey. Although it does mean that I've been sleeping in a tent for a week, which is not so good, hence the 11 1/2 hour sleep last night!
One piece of advice - be very wary of the organic cider. 2 pints and I was as drunk as I normally get on 4 or 5 pints of beer! It did make carrying the flag we commandeered from someone quite funny, especially when we forgot it and left it outside the toilets on the way back to the tent and had to go back and find it at 4 am!
That may be enough camping for 1 year - I'm hoping any further parts of Munchkin tours 2007 involve real beds and proper showers!!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
August advice
I'm definitely getting worse at this. It's now 9th August, and I've only just remembered to change the calendar. I'll go sit in the corner and think about what I've done, while you can read this:
If anyone happens to know this girl, could they please bring her to Bristol for the weekend so that we have nice weather?
If anyone happens to know this girl, could they please bring her to Bristol for the weekend so that we have nice weather?
Monday, July 02, 2007
Words of wisdom for July
Being the first Monday of the month (or the first Monday of the month that I remember to post on here), here is what Edward Monkton has to share with me and all those who visit my desk this month:
This specifically reminds me of a walk with a certain brother of my boyfriend's... He was at the time living in an RV on a campsite in the woods, and when we went round there one evening with a few of his other friends we thought we should all go for a walk. We were expecting this walk to happen before dinner, but somehow we ended up not going out until dusk with about 3 torches between 7 of us. Chris being Chris, strode off down the path, and so we figured that seeing as he lived there he must know where he was going. But no. We ended up walking for miles, got completely lost in the dark and ended up at some guy's house asking for directions and hoping that he wouldn't come out with a shot gun or something! So remember, if you go out walking in the woods, the person who lives there hasn't necessarily looked at the map either!
This specifically reminds me of a walk with a certain brother of my boyfriend's... He was at the time living in an RV on a campsite in the woods, and when we went round there one evening with a few of his other friends we thought we should all go for a walk. We were expecting this walk to happen before dinner, but somehow we ended up not going out until dusk with about 3 torches between 7 of us. Chris being Chris, strode off down the path, and so we figured that seeing as he lived there he must know where he was going. But no. We ended up walking for miles, got completely lost in the dark and ended up at some guy's house asking for directions and hoping that he wouldn't come out with a shot gun or something! So remember, if you go out walking in the woods, the person who lives there hasn't necessarily looked at the map either!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Munchkin tours 2007 - part 2
Munchkin tours this year seems to be primarily camping, and this part is no exception. Camping in this sense includes all manner of sleeping in fields, and in this particular instance I'd like to point out that a caravan is not cheating!
How to sum up glastonbury festival? Good company, good music, plenty of beer. Oh yeah, and mud. More consistencies and shades of mud than I'd ever thought possible! It rained every morning, so we stayed at the camp, ate fried breakfast type food and drank either coffee or beer. After the downpour of biblical proportions had stopped we ventured out, clad head to toe in waterproofs to find random music (and the odd bar - the alcohol keeps the mud funny!). And finding randomness was certainly not difficult. 10 feet tall Punch and Judy, people with inflatable giraffes tied to their heads and an Aardman penguin on a stick, and that's just for starters! I won't even go into the drunk Ninja Turtles...
Here's what I can remember of our line-up from the weekend:
CCQ
Pee Wee Ellis
The Coral
Sandi Thom
Hothouse Flowers
Damien Rice
Duke Special
The Klaxons (a really small amount)
Babyshambles
Some really random guy in a cafe
Show of Hands (Cornish pirate type people!)
The Killers
Another really random guy who'd been up for 3 days on cheap speed and couldn't tune his guitar
James Morrison
Shirley Bassey
The Manic Street Preachers
The Kaiser Chiefs
The Chemical Brothers
Favourite band/artist is a really tough one. Somewhere between Sandi Thom, Damien Rice, Show of Hands and James Morrison. Fondest memory would have to be dressed completely in waterproofs, sat on a folding stool drinking gin and tonic out of a paper cup while some hippies danced barefoot to 50's rock and roll while it was pouring with rain outside. Good times...
All in all, a fantastic weekend, mud or no mud. Well, I don't know what it's like with no mud, but I'm assuming that'd be good too! Same again next year anyone?
How to sum up glastonbury festival? Good company, good music, plenty of beer. Oh yeah, and mud. More consistencies and shades of mud than I'd ever thought possible! It rained every morning, so we stayed at the camp, ate fried breakfast type food and drank either coffee or beer. After the downpour of biblical proportions had stopped we ventured out, clad head to toe in waterproofs to find random music (and the odd bar - the alcohol keeps the mud funny!). And finding randomness was certainly not difficult. 10 feet tall Punch and Judy, people with inflatable giraffes tied to their heads and an Aardman penguin on a stick, and that's just for starters! I won't even go into the drunk Ninja Turtles...
Here's what I can remember of our line-up from the weekend:
CCQ
Pee Wee Ellis
The Coral
Sandi Thom
Hothouse Flowers
Damien Rice
Duke Special
The Klaxons (a really small amount)
Babyshambles
Some really random guy in a cafe
Show of Hands (Cornish pirate type people!)
The Killers
Another really random guy who'd been up for 3 days on cheap speed and couldn't tune his guitar
James Morrison
Shirley Bassey
The Manic Street Preachers
The Kaiser Chiefs
The Chemical Brothers
Favourite band/artist is a really tough one. Somewhere between Sandi Thom, Damien Rice, Show of Hands and James Morrison. Fondest memory would have to be dressed completely in waterproofs, sat on a folding stool drinking gin and tonic out of a paper cup while some hippies danced barefoot to 50's rock and roll while it was pouring with rain outside. Good times...
All in all, a fantastic weekend, mud or no mud. Well, I don't know what it's like with no mud, but I'm assuming that'd be good too! Same again next year anyone?
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
How-to of the year!
I, like many other people, have a google homepage, and one of the things on that homepage is wikipedia's how-to of the day. Normally they're fairly boring, but now and again one catches my eye and really entertains me. The last one that seemed really amusing was something along the lines of how to mosh to heavy metal music, but today's was even better:
http://www.wikihow.com/Talk-Like-a-Pirate
Yes, it is what the link suggests - how to talk like a pirate! I can't say I've ever wanted to be Keira Knightly, but it sounds so funny that I might have to do it anyway! There are also other links, such as how to celebrate national talk like a pirate day, and how to release the pirate within!
Anyone at greenbelt festival this year should probably prepare themselves for some pirating!
http://www.wikihow.com/Talk-Like-a-Pirate
Yes, it is what the link suggests - how to talk like a pirate! I can't say I've ever wanted to be Keira Knightly, but it sounds so funny that I might have to do it anyway! There are also other links, such as how to celebrate national talk like a pirate day, and how to release the pirate within!
Anyone at greenbelt festival this year should probably prepare themselves for some pirating!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I don't feel like dancing
Well, actually I do feel like dancing, I'm just not allowed to do it. I had an appointment at the university sports centre open clinic this morning, and was told some not so fun news. I've always known that I've got weak ankles - it's something of a family curse. But it turns out the problem is much worse than I'd initially thought. My arches have partially collapsed, which is something that happened to my sister a long time ago except hers went completely, and the ligaments and things that support my left ankle have virtually no strength on the inside of the joint at all. The only reason my ankles are currently not in the state of my sisters is probably because I've been dancing for so long, so it's helped to hold them together as it were. But now my injury from January is back (again), so I went to get it assessed and it turns out I need physio or it's just going to keep getting worse. So no dancing, and no gym until I've at least had the full assessment and my physiotherapist can tell me exactly what I should and shouldn't do.
I miss dancing :(
I miss dancing :(
Friday, June 08, 2007
Something to make you smile
This is what Edward Monkton has to share with me this month:
Now I finally understand why I can never get my hair to behave itself - I'm going to have to start drinking tea, so that the hedgehog has somewhere to sit!
Now I finally understand why I can never get my hair to behave itself - I'm going to have to start drinking tea, so that the hedgehog has somewhere to sit!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Happy anniversary
On Saturday, Tony and I celebrated our one year anniversary! There was a picnic with champagne, a lie in the giant hammock and presents including a bear dressed as a sheep (no, this wasn't a result of the champagne) and tickets to see 42nd Street!
There was also a large quantity of chocolate and a lovely meal in the evening. I'm currently feeling very spoilt!
There was also a large quantity of chocolate and a lovely meal in the evening. I'm currently feeling very spoilt!
Friday, May 11, 2007
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Munchkin tours 2007 - part 1
This will be the first installment of my holiday stories for the year, which will undoubtedly also include a couple of festivals over the summer.
The May bank holiday weekend was spent camping on the Gower. There was sun, beach, beer and far too much meat in the shape of barbeques and fry ups! (Obviously the meat itself wasn't in the shape of a barbeque - that would just be silly!) We talked, drank (in the case of the boys, before breakfast!) rode horses and played a game of throwing small rocks at a pileof bigger rocks to see who could knock it over, which was really far more entertaining than it should have been! All in all it was a lovely weekend, even if there was a minimal amount of sleeping on the last night, due it sounding distinctly like the tent was going to be lifted off the ground and carried somewhere by the gale force winds. It is nice to be back in my own bed though...
The May bank holiday weekend was spent camping on the Gower. There was sun, beach, beer and far too much meat in the shape of barbeques and fry ups! (Obviously the meat itself wasn't in the shape of a barbeque - that would just be silly!) We talked, drank (in the case of the boys, before breakfast!) rode horses and played a game of throwing small rocks at a pileof bigger rocks to see who could knock it over, which was really far more entertaining than it should have been! All in all it was a lovely weekend, even if there was a minimal amount of sleeping on the last night, due it sounding distinctly like the tent was going to be lifted off the ground and carried somewhere by the gale force winds. It is nice to be back in my own bed though...
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Happy Munchkin!
Today is a good day in Munchkin Country. The sun is shining, I have a giant mug of coffee in my hands (or rather on my desk - it's a little difficult to type while holding a giant coffee mug!) and I passed my dancing exams! I was somewhat annoyed seeing as I know I didn't dance my best in the exam, but having been doing dancing exams since I was considerably younger (although not much smaller) than I am now, I'm used to that - it's just what happens. But it can't have been that bad because I got commended (89%) in each of my latin dances and highly commended (90%) in my ballroom! So all in all, I'm a happy Munchkin today!
Now I just wait for the medals to turn up!
Now I just wait for the medals to turn up!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
April's comedy calendar picture
Ok, I'm obviously getting really rubbish at updating my blog, since I haven't written anything on here for a month. Too much time spent on facebook maybe...
Anyway, here are Edward Monkton's words of wisdom for April.
Anyone else think he's been on something "special"?!
Anyway, here are Edward Monkton's words of wisdom for April.
Anyone else think he's been on something "special"?!
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Edward Monkton's monthly words of wisdom
This is what Edward Monkton has to say to me this month:
"The wonderful man was strong. The wonderful man was handsome. The wonderful man took you in his arms and made you feel exactly how always wanted to feel. That is why they called him the wonderful man."
I hope you've got a wonderful man, unless you are a man, in which case I hope you are a wonderful man.
"The wonderful man was strong. The wonderful man was handsome. The wonderful man took you in his arms and made you feel exactly how always wanted to feel. That is why they called him the wonderful man."I hope you've got a wonderful man, unless you are a man, in which case I hope you are a wonderful man.
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