Things that ur happy about

[Rufus Gwertigan]

I know it's probably not rational but I just couldn't donate my body to a medical school. I don't want to be cremated either. Got to be a coffin in the ground job and being eaten away by bacteria and wiggly worms etc.

This is not a personal attack at I can not see why not. I love my body and I understand having a memorium but I never link the 2. Maybe it is part of the army man in me and bury me where I fall. But for me I want to be as much use as I can, before or after death.

[Spindles]

When my father in law died the expense of getting his body back here (he died on holiday) and then the funeral led to my mother in law completely draining every penny of savings they had managed to accrue (he died in the August after he retired in January). He had a haulage company and employed 4 men before he died, she had nothing but the roof over her head by the end of September.

Black bag and leave me out for the bin men, I say.

[Spindles]

On the things you are happy about front:

Yesterday I was not so happy. Today I contacted work and filled them in on how I am, letting them know it'll be a little while longer before I am back and I'd try and pop in to discuss a staged return to work in the early part of the week, then a friend managed to pop some oramorph in (I'd completely run out last night and I realised how lucky I am that I am able to get hold of such things so easily) which means that right now I am completely pain free. I have a nice biryani on the hob which should be ready soon and my cat just farted.

[BlackHole2006]

My friend bringing me back a Maccy D's tonight because it's his last day there and he said he would get me what I wanted for free.

I know I know, McDonalds is bad for you and I'll probably end up eating it at Midnight or something BUT it's free food and when there's free food being offered I'm all game, whatever time it is.

[Rufus Gwertigan]

It is causing me some shit but in the morning I am getting the train to help my eldest daughter move to uni at Greenwich. I have never been but I remember as a boy at sea with my dad talking about going. I first went to sea with my dad for 2 months when I was 11. That carried on for 5 years. One night I got talking and just mentioned about GMT and the Greenwich Meridian. He promised me he was going to take me but with my marriage later, and the fat c**t deciding to die, we never did. I have never had the heart to visit and once my daughter is settled in I think I am going to find a quiet place to have a cry.

[BlackHole2006]

Starting to learn how to cook meals now and getting better and better each time. A few days ago I cooked my family paella which tasted lovely, also cooked them Fajitas which was a piece of piss, Chile con carne and I just put a chicken in the oven a second ago.

Hopefully learning all these dishes will improve my Uni diet by a country mile. Plus it will mean that people will think that I am actually a decent chef rather than a lazy twat who just buys take-aways all the time and burns Chicken Kievs!

Edited September 16, 2012 by BlackHole2006

[Spindles]

I enjoy cooking, but it is finding the time. It is all very well saying "eat fresh" but unless you have time to go to the shops every day and then cook a meal from scratch you just end up throwing away out of date fruit and veg that has gone too crappy to eat. I normally work til 6pm, talking nearly 7pm by the time I get home, if I had to shop every day and cook as well it would be 10pm before I ate. Hence 20 minute pizza in the oven or processed frozen food.

On the bright side onions and potatoes last basically forever. Onions are the basis of almost anything I cook.

[kaosmark2]

I enjoy cooking, but it is finding the time. It is all very well saying "eat fresh" but unless you have time to go to the shops every day and then cook a meal from scratch you just end up throwing away out of date fruit and veg that has gone too crappy to eat. I normally work til 6pm, talking nearly 7pm by the time I get home, if I had to shop every day and cook as well it would be 10pm before I ate. Hence 20 minute pizza in the oven or processed frozen food.

On the bright side onions and potatoes last basically forever. Onions are the basis of almost anything I cook.

I've found the trick is to shop twice a week, do large portions of everything, and put stuff in fridge/freezer, so that you can still have a home-cooked, fresh-ish balanced meal but you're only spending a lot of time preparing stuff about 3 nights a week.

[Spindles]

Yeah, in late 2004 a friend and I shared a house. Each sunday I would take over the kitchen and make 3 large meals, then separate them into dinner that day, tea that day and freeze the rest in tupperware containers, which I then microwaved at work for my lunch. This sort of fell by the way and then when I got custody of my son he was a fussy eater, so I accomodated him, then he moved out, his sister moved in and the same happened. Recently I have started doing this again, also my daughter has joined in as she enjoys cooking.

I hope I can keep it up when I go back to work, I have defrosted some chilli I made about a week ago and I'm going to do that with a baked spud shortly

[The Nal]

The WW1 bunker in the Imperial War Museum.

[BlackHole2006]

The gig I was talking about a few pages back is now confirmed, and I'm headlining (a.k.a playing last)

[Spartacus Mars]

I enjoy cooking, but it is finding the time. It is all very well saying "eat fresh" but unless you have time to go to the shops every day and then cook a meal from scratch you just end up throwing away out of date fruit and veg that has gone too crappy to eat. I normally work til 6pm, talking nearly 7pm by the time I get home, if I had to shop every day and cook as well it would be 10pm before I ate. Hence 20 minute pizza in the oven or processed frozen food.

I used to find this on the 9-5+ schedule. One tip is a slow cooker, either prepare the night before or in the morning, switch on before you leave, arrive to good food.

Another is a proper bake-off on a free day, Sunday or whatever. Make a couple or three of dishes in huge volumes, usually involving a large soup/stock pot, and freeze into portions. Then just microwave a meal of an evening. If you've only got an icebox freezer it can be worth investing in a small freezer. You can easily make and store three or four weeks of food in a day's cooking.

Also just making a big chilli, bolognese, soup, whatever, can easily keep fresh for three or four days in a fridge.

And TAKE YOUR FRUIT TO WORK.

A combination of the office's fat & sugar based vending machines, no local decent places for lunch, and the too-tired/late to cook at night put some proper pounds of fat on me. Going to part-time shift work has seen me get down to my abs and my smile.

[LondonTom]

The gig I was talking about a few pages back is now confirmed, and I'm headlining (a.k.a playing last)

You said it was in Camden?

[Rufus Gwertigan]

I enjoy cooking, but it is finding the time. It is all very well saying "eat fresh" but unless you have time to go to the shops every day and then cook a meal from scratch you just end up throwing away out of date fruit and veg that has gone too crappy to eat. I normally work til 6pm, talking nearly 7pm by the time I get home, if I had to shop every day and cook as well it would be 10pm before I ate. Hence 20 minute pizza in the oven or processed frozen food.

On the bright side onions and potatoes last basically forever. Onions are the basis of almost anything I cook.

I cook from scratch virtually every day unless I fancy some stodge. I bake my own bread a couple of times a week. The only thing I really make a lot of is a pan of soup and it will last a couple of days.

[Spindles]

I cook from scratch virtually every day unless I fancy some stodge. I bake my own bread a couple of times a week. The only thing I really make a lot of is a pan of soup and it will last a couple of days.

Recently discovered soup. I was of the soup is a starter club for years, and I don't have a starter. Recently I have been making soup and eating half/storing half in a jar in the fridge then reheating a couple of days later...oh em gee. Realise I was a dick for years not eating soup.

I used to find this on the 9-5+ schedule.

[LOTS OF INTERESTING STUFF]

A combination of the office's fat & sugar based vending machines, no local decent places for lunch, and the too-tired/late to cook at night put some proper pounds of fat on me. Going to part-time shift work has seen me get down to my abs and my smile.

Sat nodding sagely to that last paragraph, good post that. Totally the way of life I'm trying to get back into, the way of life I used to have before this 9 to 5+ and should be perfectly able to get back into. I don't drive, so as soon as the health went to pot I stopped saving money with effort and started saving effort with money.

I'm cooking more like a student again, which is nice. Although I still have lazy nights, not going to pretend I'm a saint.

Last night's defrosted bolognaise was the business. Tonight something involving onions and chicken, methinks.

[BlackHole2006]

You said it was in Camden?

Yeah the clubs called The Constitution and the gigs on the 28th, Really looking forward to it!

[Spindles]

Heh. you big headlining star, you!

So, do you play under your name or as part of a band? Tell us more

I, for one, am intrigued.

[BlackHole2006]

Heh. you big headlining star, you!

So, do you play under your name or as part of a band? Tell us more

I, for one, am intrigued.

Well the name is I Shall Wear Midnight (taken from that Terry Pratchett book, haven't read it yet but I just thought it sounded nice for a band/solo name) and basically it started off as me fucking around recording on GarageBand, just acoustic guitar and voice you know, so I sent some stuff around to gigs and hey presto! It'll be a solo acoustic set, which I was sort of dreading doing for a bit as I'm not too confident with that kind of thing, the first couple of gigs I did were disastrous as I was pretty much too drunk to play as I (wrongly) thought downing lots of Jegerbombs before playing would be good for dutch courage. Turns out the only thing they're good for is me being annoying to the sound man and giving up after 2 half arsed renditions of John Lennon and Bright Eyes.

However, they were open mics and this thing I'm doing is a proper scheduled event. I thought if I was actually listed on a bill it would mean that people would have listened to myself and they would actually be there because they think I'm good which would be a major confidence boost, then today when I found out I was the headline out I just got a fantastic buzz of excitement and now I don't feel nervous at all. I just hope it all goes well and I nail it, cause you never know, it could lead to good things. Maybe I'll have a few pints before I go on but I won't be totally wrecked.

I put on a lot of pressure on myself even on open mics which is silly really cause they're only a bit of fun, I just hope at this gig that I will forget all that pressure and have a good time.

The Pyramid Stage beckons!

[Spindles]

That is fucking brilliant. That's proper brightened my evening that has. Brilliant for you!

Best of luck, don't get TOO pissed The fact that you know people are there to hear you helps your confidence is great, I'd be cacking it! I only ever tried musical performance once, I won't go there again I am always impressed when people are able to get up there and do it, to have musical talent is one thing, but to be able to perform is another essential skill, I think (I lack both!)

Seriously though, best of luck, I really hope this leads to bigger and better things for you (although this is a big and pretty damned fine thing in itself) and if I was you I'd totally be trying to get some small stage at glastonbury to book you so you can get your ticket without having to get up and panic with the rest of us

[BlackHole2006]

That is fucking brilliant. That's proper brightened my evening that has. Brilliant for you!

Best of luck, don't get TOO pissed The fact that you know people are there to hear you helps your confidence is great, I'd be cacking it! I only ever tried musical performance once, I won't go there again I am always impressed when people are able to get up there and do it, to have musical talent is one thing, but to be able to perform is another essential skill, I think (I lack both!)

Seriously though, best of luck, I really hope this leads to bigger and better things for you (although this is a big and pretty damned fine thing in itself) and if I was you I'd totally be trying to get some small stage at glastonbury to book you so you can get your ticket without having to get up and panic with the rest of us

Cheers mate, really appreciate it!

Well as I said you never know what's going happen after this but things can only get better! I'm planning on playing around Camden for a bit before considering doing a small stage at the Big G, plus I don't know who to go to if I want to perform!

Edited September 18, 2012 by BlackHole2006

[Spindles]

Well, best of bleeding luck with it! I'm sure you'd have the /efests crew in attendance if that could come to pass. I would expect that the festival circuit is bedding down for the winter months right now, so after the snow melts I think it would be time to try and find bookers for stages

[eFestivals]

my lad reaching the grand old age of 16

[Paul ™]

my lad reaching the grand old age of 16

Is his birthday today?

My daughter is 20 today, and she is also pregnant with a little girl, who is due in Feb

[eFestivals]

Is his birthday today?

My daughter is 20 today, and she is also pregnant with a little girl, who is due in Feb

Yeah, today.

Congrats to you, grandad.

[Spindles]

Congrats both. They grow up so fast