I'm still alive! And for the last month or so I:
- Had a visitation from Sphenodon himself, Mr Norris. Bruce arrived early last month and then his partner, Sharla, arrived a little later in the month. Needless to say we drank some beer, talked some shit, played a lot of N64 and went and saw some prog rock. Good times! Bruce and Sharla took off travelling from the middle of the month, including a jaunt to see Tom Waits in Dublin. Lucky bastards. They were back for the end of the month (though Bruce flew over for the stag do the week before).
- Flew my mother over from New Zealand. It’s the first travel she’s ever done and she took to it like a fish to water. Seriously, I was worried she would find London a bit overwhelming but she absolutely loved it. Everywhere we went she was wide-eyed and excited and it was a real pleasure to show her around the city. She stayed with us for a week then went up to my sisters in Stockton for a week, before coming back down again.
- Had my mate Lisa fly in from NYC for the wedding, which was great. Didn't get to see her as much as I would have liked (sorry!) but we did hang out one day, where she pretty much spent the whole time talking me back from stresstown.
- Had a stag do! Organised by Doug and Dana, I had a great day. I had made it clear that standard stag hijinks weren’t gonna fly with me and bless ‘em they took me at my word! Not a humiliation in sight and a better day all around for it! Anyway, we started out at 8.20am with a trip out to Sidcup to play some laser paintball, which is light (hur hur) years ahead of the laser tag of my youth. American military spec laser rifles that have a range of 400m and can shoot through light foliage? Hell yeah! In the words of much-loved gaming classic Cannon Fodder: “War! Never been so much fun!” (followed by the immortal lines “Go to your brother, Kill him with your gun, Leave him lying in his uniform, Dying in the sun.”) After this it was off to London Bridge for some quality pub time (where the pub in question had weirdly laid a carpet of grass on their floor) before the heading to Smithfields for some Karaoke. After shaming myself with some awful renditions there we came back into the West End for a rock club, by which time I was about ready to collapse. Seriously, half an hour there and that was it. So off home for cocoa, slippers and the cold realisation that I’m not as young as I was and death creeps ever closer. Good day! Thanks to everyone who was involved, I had a great time and it was much appreciated.
- Got married! Yes, I’m now officially a married man, with paperwork and a ring and everything! We couldn’t have asked for a better day, to be sure. The sun was shining, everything seemed to work the way it was supposed to (despite a number of last-minute panics involving accommodation and transport) and everyone seemed to have a pretty good time. We’ll put photos up as soon as we get ‘em. In the mean time, could anybody who took photos on the day supply us with copies? Either uploaded to a website, or on a disc or the like. Anyways, it really was like a dream for us and yes I may have blubbed a bit at the altar. What of it? They were manly tears! MANLY TEARS! Thank you so much to everyone who made it and to those who sent their good wishes. You all helped us have the wedding we dreamed of. Thanks also to those who had their special roles on the day (you know who you are) and also to everyone for the generous gifts we received! We’re just catching up on life at the moment, but we’ll get to thanking each and every one of you very soon.
- Went on honeymoon! Paris. Montpellier. Sunshine. Deluxe hotels. First class train travel. Good food. Lots of wine. All in all a bloody fine time!
- Came back home and began to reassimilate to Life Without A Wedding. Started a joint bank account with HSBC, which felt very grown up. Spent the better part of a day just catching up on my web reading...
- Got back to work, where I'm still settling back in, not helped by the fact that the holiday season still reigns, so lots to do with not many people to do it.
- Caught up with Morgue, who was over briefly, which is always welcome!
- Saw Turisas play as a part of the Kerrang week of rock. They were great, as ever, though I foolishly went along with the idea of going for more drinks after the gig. Stumbled in at 1.30 and then spent most of the next day feeling bloody awful.
- Dreamt of an endless, verdant plain stretching out before me, filled with the promise of unexplored territories and unknown frontiers. Was excited and happy. Not sure what it means.
Carry on reading...
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