Author: graybo

The impact of past relationships:

• I now only like girls with good teeth
• I now eat Peperami
• I like Andy Goldsworthy’s work
• I hate Laura Ashley
• I hate Robbie Williams
• The Eurovision Song Contest will always be associated with pushing my face into thick black curly hair to kiss a soft neck tenderly
• I avoid drinking neat vodka after 2am
• I avoid Luton
• Poodles make me laugh
• Distance is an object
• A warm soft voice will break my heart
• I know what I like (insert knowing look here)
• I know that every person is new and different

What has been the impact of relationships on you?

And in other news, Nico becomes a dad. Congratulations!
originally posted at 10:14pm

Today I had to drive over to East Sussex and Kent on business (and get back to Chichester by 4.30 for an appointment with Jo – who is, officially, lovely. She is my hair stylist in case you were wondering/had forgotten.) I love that area – there are some beautiful villages, and the trees and fields were looking very lush and fresh and green. But it is a strange place, in that it has a rural atmosphere, some rural characteristics (such as the profusion of small local shops for local people – though, sadly, three of the ones I regularly visit had closed since August when I last went that way. Hey Mr Blair! come take a look at the real rural economy! come see how many rural votes you’re going to get! none mate! not one! [stop ranting Graybo!]), but is also only a short journey down the A21 from London, so is commuterville. So you have this strange contrast – small country shops, local country pubs, and then little bijou design shops in the middle of nowhere. Not that rural people don’t do design, but as a rule, they are more inclined towards function first, form later.
originally posted at 9:57pm

Here is an mpeg of me cutting my birthday cake (one of them) during the picnic in Priory Park yesterday. From left to right: me, Arron (behind me, but you can hear him talking about getting up at 5.30am to take a pill), Matt, Tanya, DAGS, Sacha and Ian (who doesn’t like icing). The famous purple Frisbee is on the ground behind the wine bottle. Be warned – 5.24Mb file.
originally posted at 9:14pm

The present list, as promised:

• MVC vouchers, from Tim
• Waterstones vouchers, from Jane P
• The Jubilee Line Extension, from Nick
• Don’t Tell Me The Truth About Love, from Vaughan
• A nice cheque from Dad
• Another cheque from my uncle
• A stone elephant and a mouse nightshirt from Sarah (don’t ask)
• A hipflask filled with port from Fi and Alison
• A beer monster glass tankard from DA and DAGS
• A very expensive bottle of red wine from Al and Arron (need a suitable dinner guest to share that with. volunteers?)
• Home made goat’s cheese (and some cash) from Jane G (using milk from her own goats – how cool? – the cheese that is, not the cash)
• Monkey Business – the Life And Times of the Marx Brothers and Chairman Blair’s Little Red Book from Gary, Sue and Alex
• Chocolate from Mum
• A groovy shark-shaped foil cutter from Sacha
• Classic Superman cartoons on video from Ian (to be watched at the parent’s house)
• plus the pressies from Mo and Meg that you already know about
• and three birthday cakes!

Thank you everyone (hope I’ve not missed anything!!). My birthday was utterly brilliant (the bits I remember). Apparently I was utterly offensive, totally incoherent and generally unpleasant, so just like a normal Saturday night really. There are enormous holes in my memory, probably due to huge quantities of beer on an empty stomach – I’ve had to ask Sarah to help me fill in a few gaps.
Present for the beerfest on Saturday were (deep breath): Sarah, Andy, Nick T, Phil, Jane G, Ian, DA, DAGS, Matt, Arron, Al, Fi, Alison, Paul F, Bora, Neil, Helen, Steve C, Kearn, Claudette and probably a bunch of other people that I was too drunk to remember. gah! We all got bladdered in the Nags, then W2 and finally back here until godknowswhen. Highlights (I don’t remember most of them, but everyone else thought they were funny) included me leering at Claudette (sorry hun), Matt and Ian doing goldfish impressions, the lightswitch game, Bora’s spliff, me telling everyone that Nick fancied Sarah (sorry mate), the phallic elephant discussion and Sarah insisting that I should walk the mile to her house with her and Andy and then get a cab home from there, ignoring the fact that I was home already (did she have other plans I wonder?? the mind boggles!).
Sunday involved returning a huge hired lorry to the hire company (no way I should have been behind the wheel!), doing the recycling (how many empty bottles???) and popping to Waitrose to get kitted out for an afternoon of leisurely picnicking as described below.
I love my friends – they’re great!
originally posted at 8:25pm

present list tomorrow – too tired now.
But a great day, in the company of Sarah, Andy, Tanya, Ian, Sacha, Matt, Tim (my brother), Jane P, DAGS, Gary, Alex (bless! – only 4 months old!), Arron and later Paul F and Aris. A great day, made noteworthy by our stunning skills with my purple Frisbee, a warm sunny park and good friends in a bar that is a second home.
Still suffering slightly from that maudlin feeling from this morning. So need someone to snuggle with – I know, I’m an old softy, it’s the way I am.
originally posted 13 May 2001 at 11:59pm

I’m tired, hungover and a little maudlin.
Yesterday and last night were brilliant – great company with brilliant friends, lots of lovely pressies (full list and thanks will follow later) and lots of beer and crisps. We kept going til late, there’s been a pistachio explosion in my living room and there are holes in my memory.
But this morning I woke up on my own, nobody in the flat but me, no cup of tea on the bedside table, no smiling eyes looking gently into mine, no tender fingers caressing my body awake. sigh
And today’s horoscope:

Something changed when you weren’t looking, but you can’t put your finger on what it is exactly. All you know is that old familiarity is lost in new weirdness. This could be a good time to open yourself up to new possibilities. Oddities appear around every turn, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. You may be out of the loop today, but tomorrow could find you back in the center of things. Live in the moment while you have the chance.

That’s exactly how I feel.

How to win friends and influence people (No. 437 in a series):
Go to your local truck hire company. Hire the biggest truck you can with your driving licence. Drive it to Orchard Street in Chichester at the peak of the Friday evening rush hour. Park it on double yellow lines so nobody can get past. Walk off and watch from a discreet distance.
[insert evil grin here] hnyarr hnyarr hnyarr!
originally posted 11 May 2001 at 5:44pm

Today is the last day of the 30th year of my life. Tomorrow, I cease to be a twentysomething. Normally I have a bit of a mental review of life around the time of my birthday, but this year it seems fitting to have a bigger mental review. The last ten years have been great – I’ve achieved a lot, done lots of things and, in my opinion, become a much better and more rounded person. When I look back at myself at age 20, I cringe. I’m sure on May 11 2011, I’ll look back at today and cringe too.
But just thinking about what I have done and some of the things that might have happened in the last ten years makes for a pretty interesting list:

• I’ve run my own little business
• I’ve travelled a little bit
• I nearly became a dad
• I nearly got married
• I’ve loved some fantastic people
• I’ve even been loved too – and learnt what a great feeling that is
• I’ve made some brilliant friends
• I’ve lost a few friends too, some of whom I regret losing, others I don’t
• I’ve learnt a lot – about people, work, the world, myself
• I’ve come to realise how much more there is to learn
• I’ve been hurt, sometimes badly, by friends and lovers
• I’ve been happy too, sometimes so happy I could burst
• I’ve been on TV, radio and in magazines (and I don’t just mean John Peel’s show!) – which taught me that media people are just ordinary people with public jobs
• I’ve discovered that there is much more to the world than me, although I’m not sure that my ego has diminished any
• I’ve become a homeowner
• I’ve developed an appetite for life, but discovered that sometimes you need means to satisfy that desire

And I’m looking forward to the next ten years. If, at the age of twenty, you had told me even a few of the things that I would do and experience in the years ahead, I would never have believed you. I have no idea what the next ten years will hold, or even if I’ll complete them (I intend to!), but I’m going to try and enjoy as much of it as I can, grasp every opportunity and be positive throughout. It will be a bumpy ride at times, I’m sure, but I think I like it that way.
originally posted 11 May 2001 at 11:38am

According to my referrer stats, Zannah has linked to me. This is clearly not the case. Does anyone out there with an understanding of how referrer stats work have any idea how this sort of thing happens?
Also, for the person who found this site by searching Google for “Postman Pat tight t-shirt” – say what?!
And apologies for the lack of the comment function at the moment. Blogger is messing about. Normal service will be resumed shortly (I hope).
originally posted 11 May 2001 at 10:13am