The Starlight Ball

Will, me, Claire & Dave standing on the bridge (over the pond in my garden)

I really must wear this dress dancing sometime, it's so wonderfully swishy!

The ball was really good fun! Even better than the one my committee ran last year - although they very much followed the template that we wrote. Before ours they really didn't have a clue what could be done. But the new committee (that we trained) did an amazing job and refined all our ideas :) They got an upgraded version of the hall deco and dance floor. They also got a better live band and more drinks and snacks.

I made Will dance some Ceroc and Robyn made me dance some Ceroc! Not that I objected, she's actually very good.. And I managed to lead for a whole track without stopping!!! Although I still can't get the catapult right :(

My feet hurt! But so worth it..

Ian's St George's Day Party

Alicia, Kaili & others dancing / getting blinded by the 'light pro'

A special long blog entry today, as I seem to have a growing audience :)

I arrived at Jane's for 5 and we curled eachothers hair and secured it with copious amounts of hairspray (making vague resolutions to stay away from naked flames). Claire arrived and we curled her hair too, ate sandwiches, watched that crazy dance program everyone's into, and transformed ourselves into fair maidens. I don't know whether it's the 'fair' or the 'maidens' that I'm most tempted to put quote marks around.

When we arrived at Ian's there was an amazing selection of food and.. drinks..

Ok, it has to be said, the INFAMOUS ROCKET COCKTAIL was absolutely undrinkable and tasted of 'pond life' (to quote Claire). And this was when it was made 'properly', so God knows what the version at Annie's tasted like :s I have a photo of the 'cocktail' if anyone wants to laugh at it.

St George complete with shield, sword & silver trousers.

The costumes were all brilliant! I was so impressed :) Pretty much everyone had made a good effort - even 'Mr Sanders' who hates fancy dress. And Colin actually looked quite good with a hankie on his head - I can see it catching on. Of course, Ian managed to stick his moustache on an inch too far to the left, so it didn't line up properly. King Richard also turned up, and a random Australian.

Ian & Annie dancing, Roz (who somehow managed to be a dragon & stylish at the same time) watching.

Seriously though, considering the space, I think everyone danced masterfully. And Roz made a really cool mask-creation. Anyway, you know how fond I am of DRAGONS..

Three curly haired 'fair maidens'..feel free to worship us.

Claire was the peasant fair maiden, Jane was the Royal fair maiden, and I was somewhere in the midway. But I think we could all be classed as tipsy fair maidens..

Kaili proving that it is possible to look funky with a cone on your head.

Lots of us had a dance actually. I had a 9 minute long dance with my fiance which I thought was quite impressive. I also have a short film of Ian dancing with Dave.. "Ian's new flame?" "How could he resist Ian's moves..?" Sorry.. :) I also had a dance with Jane! We took it in turns to try and lead and either we did really well, or my memory is sufficiently blurred by alcohol to think that we did.

["I love your description of the cocktails you had, typical artistic type, nothing about the drink or the taste, just the colour!!!" - extract from an email from 'Auntie' Jo - her response to my description of Tom's party when I wrote to her last week.]

Ian's photos can be found here.

Cooked breakfast at Jane's

And not even a hangover in sight! The sun came out and I think I scared my fiance a little with my morning bounciness. Claire took over the cooking and made a very delicious cooked breakfast! Thanks again to Jane for having us :)

A quick introduction..

...to my fiance.. aka, 'bad boy Nathan'

Quick! Change your desktop background... you know you want to ;)

I know I have.. :D

Moon Sulker

The moon in the trees (unedited) This looks better very large.

I left for Phil’s at about 10pm and ran all the way – the moon was out and peered at me through the trees. It was wonderfully cool and fresh and I could feel the tears turning cold as they touched the skin about the corners of my eyes. I left this world within seconds and felt momentarily grateful that the road I was dashing across was completely clear. In my second world I was running and clawing and biting – wild and unleashed! I felt the intense pain behind my shoulder blades as silvery-black-purple razor like wings forced their way out and I spiralled forwards. I sprinted across Borough Lane (also clear in the first world) as my wings opened out fully like a massive cape sweeping along behind me. The moon was partly hidden by trees and I slipped back into the first world to watch its beauty on my own. The uphill sprint had tired me a little and I slowed to a fast jog until I hit Phil’s door.

Considering how vivid and consuming my imagination can become, surely I am someone who has no need for drugs? Running (as described above) can be enough to lift me to already terrifying heights; as does exploring that weird barrier as I fall asleep. You know? When your mind is almost unconscious but you can see shapes moving, and you wonder, that maybe if you hold on for long enough, you’ll see something worth more than anything.

Spin says:
*hug* I know, I'm in the wrong, I'm sorry
Pace says:
thats ok.. things like this are never logical

Loafing at mine

Various peoples (mainly ex #leideners)

I had a small gathering. Basically said "come to my house and loaf about, eat my food, drink my drink, and bring some of your own too". Which is pretty much what happened.

Roo forgot about it until Phil rang him :) But we were very glad to have him. It was also a lovely treat to have Phil there as I wasn't expecting him to make it..

Andrew was a bit upset as his cat had been put down that day. Katie managed to have a loud chat with everyone about dead cats whilst we all sat there going "Katie, shut up" and she didn't understand why and so carried on regardless! Absolutely hilarious, luckily Andrew saw the funny side :)

Quotes of the evening?

"You spilt the butter"
"Well Tegwen exactly, it's like where the hell is my jugular?" (said as Soap clawed manically at her neck)
there's another I wanted to put here that I've forgotten.. if anyone can remember it please tell me and I'll edit..

A Small Gathering & a Smaller Squirrel

Claire with her pet squirrel.

Perhaps a year ago I might have been surprised if Claire had turned up at my house with a small pet squirrel.. but now? Nah.. doesn't even remotely shock me :) And I think she looks very sexy in the above photo (I hope that makes up for that tactless edit last night - sorry again). And the squirrel rocks.

Me straightening my hair before dance last night. More fun pics below to make up for last night's moody entry ;) 

My sister Helen.. she's so great, I love her to death!

Helen with her lovely boyfriend Peter. Trust her to choose the only guy in the school who kicks my ass at sax.

A 4-dimensional cube that Luke drew in Physics and was kind enough to give to me.. It makes me happy :)

The Not So Merry Wife..

When I was in year seven I was involved in a production of Shakespeare's 'The Merry Wives of Windsor'. In this play, Falstaff (a fat, old and unattractive knight) sends love letters to the wives of Page and Ford, two gentlemen in the area. The wives are outraged that he should a) write to them and b) not even bother to write them individual letters but send the same one to both. So they decide to get revenge..

I think it is Mistress Ford who says that the best way to revenge themselves is to first lead him on - raise his hopes - make him think that they're really into him. And then humiliate him! Dash his dreams! Because that way he'll drop from a huge height and it'll hurt a thousand times more.

I pitied Falstaff, just as I pitied Malvoleo who was given the same treatment by Sir Toby in 12th Night. I really felt for them because disappointment is an emotion that I hate. More than disappointment I hate for people to know that I am disappointed, or let down, or sad. And even more than that, I hate for people to know why.

I am now feeling happy again due to talking everything through with Melissa. She's brilliant at putting things in perspective and making me feel good about myself. *grin* random friendships are fantastic things and shouldn't be underrated. Talking of good friends..

Ian says:
In the relationship sense or in the friends sense?
Spin says:
An excellent question
Ian says:
Ahhh I think I understand
Ian says:
well come my party you will see how easily men fall at your feet and this will remind you what a wonderful beautiful girl you are and thus what a tit he is, or something :p

So true..

A lesson well learnt.

Idlewild

Woo! Such a good gig - I really enjoyed it. They played a lot of my very favourite tracks. Claire and I got right into the centre of things and danced about manically. Helen and Robyn stayed on the edges more but they had fun too. I noticed a very pretty bruise on my arm this morning and Claire has one too :)

Flop was also there! I miss her, must send her a text..

And woo! for Jane and my fiance!! :) :) :)

Ian says:
Have you let your fiance off for a bit?
Spin says:
Nah, he's still my fiance, we just happen to have a very open relationship ;)

Tom's Party

"No, you can try it first" "Or alternatively, you could.."

Tom's party last night was really lovely. I was worried I wouldn't make it as I was completely shattered. Just before I was heading out my Dad said "you do realise you're not exactly looking your best don't you?". I did realise this, but I didn't want to hear it..! But nevermind..

Alcohol is a wonderful substance, whatever my other friends say about it. It makes everything easier (well, except pouring coffee into cups rather than shoes). I had some insanely random conversations too.. it was all good.

I'm sure there was a line of logic to explain why Tom goes down hills fast on his bike.. something like: He eats a lot, so he's very dense, so he bends the space-time continuum, so.. and that's where I lost it :)

Dr James with his new best friend. (Dr James is the non green fluffy one)

The green monkey spent quite a bit of time around my neck too and was remarkably comfortable. I think I want one. But not as much as I want an ogg! There was something incredibly satisfying about the way it changed colour.

Simon, Tom & a green straw.

I liked Simon very much - he's a really cool guy and nothing like I imagined he'd be (other than tall). I felt like I already knew him though, which was slightly odd. Perhaps he just reminds me of someone else... but I can't think who.

Tom had lots of other random things to put in drinks besides green straws, such as SHINY mini umbrellas, odd shaped stirrers, multicoloured ice cubes (made from plastic rather than ice) and long thin odd shaped straws that required a lot of 'sucking power' to get icecream through. I can't remember who said 'it's good practice' which is probably just as well.

Strange glowing (& almost certainly deadly) liquid creation 

A little guitar and fluxx.. 

Saffron Walden with Jane

Jane with a hot chocolate... with marshmallows!

Jane came over yesterday and we went out for hot chocolates and crumpets. We came to the conclusion that we must have burnt off about 80 times as many calories the night before as we were eating.

We wandered about the market and all the little shops :) And bought rings. I think I may have found another shopping buddy.. next time we'll be after dance shoes though!

We spent a good hour talking solidly about Ceroc, and realised afterwards that for anyone who didn't understand the buzz of it the whole conversation would have been intensely boring. Good job we both understand really..

Dancing at Cricklewood

So that would be 11 hours of dancing this week.. my feet hurt!

Wonderful night!

With Roz, Jane and I in the back, Ian driving / singing along to strange French rap, and my fiance navigating in the front we set off for Cricklewood.

Ian: you're not trying to calculate how far we've gone based on how fast I'm going are you?
My fiance: well, yeah..
Ian: as opposed to seeing which junction we came on at?

But we made it! And I met Annie (who is seriously cool). The dance floor was big and there were loooads of people, and some very good dancers. There were some completely different styles too - people who danced Ceroc, but not the way we dance it in Cambridge. Most noticable was the young dude with the punk hair and the dark singlet. He was really amazing..

Dan was also pretty incredible and I'm glad he's going to come to Cambs sometime to dance :) Of course it helps that he's insanely good looking..

Best dance of the evening? Tricky one! I'm torn between my second dance with the dude with the punk hair, my second and third dances with Dan, and the first dance my fiance and I did to the live band. We did a really nice first move lap sit in it which just made me really really happy!

Although having said that, double-troubling is always hilarious!

Then after 5 hours dancing.. the necessary stop at Tescos.. mm.. that was much needed.

The journey back was fine, I dozed mostly with my fiance snuggled up in my arms and Jane curled over his legs (Ian: "Oh God just look at him - he's like the cat that got the cream"). Got back by 4am and somehow found orange juice, pyjamas and my bed..

*looks smug*