Winning at work!

10.3forty-one

Working in Charlotte street (SMP). Originally a one-day contract turned into two weeks, thanks to AE and HTML5. ATM video first time. Band practice trying out singers - this week's hipster didn't turn up. Collected scanned slides from dad. Great day at work on Thursday. Back to Rohan for first fortnightly session. Dreams ensue! Working with Mel on her pitch for Bj.

Sound of Music singalong in Prince Charles cinema, after a quick bite to eat at Super Star Chinese - very good! Prawn dumplings on par with Ping Pong... unheard of! Also beef dish and pork buns.

Friday INDIfresh site design and phoning BT, Ams, Roz and Elin on Sunday at P Ex. Handmade vegas card with dollars in it got a 'wow' :) Then off to Orchestra to finally play the snare piece! All good except for the roll... Doesn't matter - I asked for it and it's mine :)

Discussions and research around SA trip. Finally booked on Sunday evening along with hot chocolate and Archer. Discogs collection halfway catalogued.

Lena, Princess Warrior

10.1thirty-nine

I HAVE MY PHONE BACK!!

Just finished the Dresden Dolls live stream for the gig I missed. Fantastic :) Finished off instructions for bedside table - now waiting to buy and build! Trying VERY hard to avoid minishop work. Failing often...

First band practice back is awesome. Visiting Ams in Clapham. City Index banners, admin etc. Off to The British Museum to see sunken cities! Listening to audiobook Quiet with renewed interest. Catching The Fall, season 2, on BBC by chance!

Skype D&D session was a lot of fun, despite bad call quality. Vida has her first tattoo! Updated portfolio. Being called the BEST SISTER EVER :)

win some, lose some

9.1thirty-five

Flight to Amsterdam! Early morning drop-off by the lovely SJ. Bags checked all the way through. Day in Amsterdam; bags in locker, adventure go! Walked all the way down the length of the city. Record shop stop, lunch near Vondelpark. Walk back up, finally catch the science museum (NEMO). Best part was doing experiments in a lab coat. Glass of red on the roof terrace for sunset. Dinner near the station (Thai!). Lose phone on train back from Centraal. Yotel, the conductor, going through security 3 times in one night. Change rooms, finally sleep.

Day flight to CT - watched The Danish Girl, and a Bigger Splash. Bizarrely, the same actor appears in both. Brand new plane!! Thank god for the USB and Macbook chargers. Vida's tattoo design, bedside cabinet design finished. Nes and Raz at the airport!

Phil Collins One more night on the drive through the woods to get to Kenrock. Bath and sleep. Best flight to SA in years.

Condensed milk coffee with rusks. Squash with mom! Drive to Knysna at 5am. The mini shop :-O Tannie S, B and his new gf, (was even nice to see Oom D). Dad and Ruan arrive met die langpad. Ouma and Oupa looking just the same. Oxtail, boat rides, drank. Hours lost at the hardware store and The Deckle Edge. Delving into De Bruyn history. We have (had) a family home in Tulbach!

Sipho Hotstix Mabusa

8.4thirty-four

Shopping for tees at H&M with my lady before work. Learning to write Farsi. Moved to the seat by the window! Gentle, warm breeze - damn!

Homemade tagliatelle bolognese with salad after copious shopping at H&M and Uniqlo! New trousers yeah! Drum session with mics is turning out to be super restorative and fun! New songs!

French burkini ruling and police action.

Week all wrapped up! Brochure, emails and website all 99% done!

Work heating up!

8.2thirty-two

Catching up furiously on GoT. Mandela painting prepped, mystery just about ready to go! Trying to implement various ingenius solutions to problems around my room. Album cover holder done after Lego blocks arrived :) Trying to invent a simple device to skip tracks on a record with, and/or lift arm at end of record. Messy area in room finally cleared up!

Ukulele. Back at RZF for Perspectives booklet (and website!). City Index flaring up. Working in JSON.

Jen at Camden Fringe with Su and SJ; VICTOR! Friday night out with V, Rz and SJ in Clapham! Saturday morning lunch with Ams and Rz, then home after a long absence. Chiiiillll.

Mandela is looking good! Beef salad with Thai dressing more or less out of my head!

Cherry-picking

8.1thirty-one

Tif&Bri over from Oz to stay with SJ. Free 1 hour UI session with a senior in the field. Ams in London Bridge - with the PAINTING!! Gruelling session with John. Training to lift 1.5 times my body weight :-O Currently at 3/4. Start of the Olympics.

Lz&On over from Oz as well - meetup in LBG on Friday; drinks at the George all night with Cm and Shz. Slipped out to catch Carina Round at the Lexington.

Saturday Visions festival, attempting to get into Netil House for street food. Q too long, so went for indian. Anna Calvi, Lightning Bolt with Dave.

Sunday in Kingston with the girls at Patisserie Valerie, seeing them off at the X26, then shopping in Lakeland and Claus Ohlsen for amazing things.

SHOWTIME!

7.3twenty-eight

Carmen opera at The Blackheath Halls. Mel and Andrea come to watch on the first night, SJ and Su on the second night! Old lady's hip injury at half time... :( Third show percussion swap around with Andrew - swap back at half time after Nick reprimands us. Last performance is perfect.

Making friends in the office, lemon tree in the well! Birthdays!! Birthday breakfast with candles :) Meeting a new recruiter (Gemini), Finn's birthday!

Picnic in the Olympic park with Stacy & Simone, etc. The longest walk to get there! Custard milkshake afterwards in Westfield.

Bought the Leopold Stokowski conducting Bach: The Great Transcriptions with the LSO!

"Nice bi' o' clicking!"

7.2twenty-seven

Ladies and gentlemen, we have internet! I also appear to have found the whole of my desk! Just in time for the carpets to be cleaned. NASA's Juno enters into orbit around Jupiter, and Djokovich is out of Wimbledon before the quarter-finals. Federer follows soon after, leaving the finals to Murray and Rrrrrraonic. Murray wins.

Football Euro final between Portugal and France - Portugal score in the last 9 minutes of extra time.

Blackheath all out now, in final week of rehearsals. Dress rehearsals Saturday and Sunday go down well. Nick the Charmer making a fuss! Coffee with Shaw in the sun.

Missed Beethoven's pastoral in the Multiplex.

In double rainbows

7.1twenty-six

All week at RZF. Pingpong with the lady every day - so much fun! Trying out a new dimsum restaurant near TCR. Tattoo discussions with my besties. 3D sketches for Nes' shoji screens, as well as my bedside table.

Missus off to Scotland. Grateful that we managed to iron out wrinkles and reconnect before that. Asian food market in Peckham with Mel on Friday evening - double rainbow is the payoff for the rain! 15 minute wait for bubblewrap dessert.

March against xenophobia in central London with Mel, Gita, Dan and Ellie, Jck and Lz. Spotted one of the LGBT traffic lights Jan pointed out! Jim Morrison tribute band at the Brooklyn Bowl with Davex2. Sunday full day session at Blackheath! Rossini Overtures conducted by Herbert von Karajan vinyl picked for £4 (but actually free).

In rainbows

6.4twenty-five

Getting my ears pierced! Back at RZF, and just about managing to get to gym once a week...

Doing some light shopping at Sainsburys. CD from Dad full of 70's african rock - amazing. More 'light' shopping in John Lewis. Nice new jacket and shirt. Redoing SJ and Sb's treasure hunt in Kingston. Another IKEA run, this time with some heavier furniture.

LONDON PRIDE! So colourful! Spur-of-the-moment decision to go and have a look, mostly thanks to Su! IKEA build session with Mel. Managing to clear my desk! Talking shoji screens with nes. Carmen tickets bought for Su and SJ! RV and Fred released from the box!

Britain votes to leave the EU

Miss a lot, gain a lot more

6.3twenty-four

New handbag discussions with the girls. IKEA run! Hotdog and ice-cream :) Loot small enough to carry home, Agree to come back. Finn starts martial arts classes. Deliveroo from Byron is a little disappointing.

Nes finds a new place! Right next door at Catherine's lol. Looks lovely though. Huge welt on my forehead from the broom cupboard door.

Radiohead finally puts In Rainbows on spotify!! \0/ Mel on holiday in Spain with Andrea - gives me room to settle in. Serious 3D experiments in room layout as I sit in my office chair in the kitchen. Room is definitely smaller than before :-O Finally make it to the record store right outside our flat - pick up Billy Joel's double LP for a fiver!!

Bed is finally up after SJ's valiant push for helping me sort the layout! JL wardrobe built, IKEA cupboard built! Magic!  :) Using every last one of the shoe racks in some place or the other. Bought a handbag :) Completely missing the Taste of London Food Festival in Regents Park. Missing my date with Ams, who lands back in hospital. Dealing with Nes and mom's fallout. Missing my panel talk on women in radio as well. Nesting though :)

Sunday morning sitting on my balcony with coffee and biscuits, loving life.

Pop shop Carmen!

5.5twenty-one

Washing the stars off my ceiling... Squash date night! Two games taken off me! I must get back into the league... maybe now that we're moving to Palace! Starting the song game with Nes on WhatsApp :-D Fajita / tacos at Esh's.

Cancelled Tidal subscription. Pooooossibly reconsidering NX Gate apartments. Getting addicted to minesweeper on iPhone. Serious memory lane as I rediscover Pop Shop vol 13 and 19. Yoga book for Nes's birthday arrives in Houtbay. Packing the first bits.

Em and Co visiting. House meetings and dens parties with the bitches. Blackheath kicks off with a cymbal crash!!!

New home

5.3nineteen

Quiter week at home, despite the Monday of 9 viewings. Concentrating on Crystal Palace now. Memory stick collected from Andrei at the music studio. Songs uploaded!

Offer made on Alexandra Drive! Wonderful chat with mom! Letting go of my garden on a universal scale. Ams' hair shaved off. Finn in a fistfight at school. Oupa using his haircut voucher. Nes' D&D figurines.

Chat about friends who don't know I exist. Turns out they do! More than I realised! \0/ E's birthday snub... :( Great PT session with John. Trying to organise measurements at Alexandra Drive amidst ongoing tenant reference checks and upheavals.

Meeting up with old work friend Ben Lamb, possibility of business in the future? Rzfsh for half a day, visiting Ams! Esh off work not feeling well :( Squash booked, but missed. Islington with SJ Sat morning, bakery, optician, banners, another bakery, second hand record store with birthday presents in it! Sunglasses for me! Missed the Blackheath kick-off due to excessive banner work (and a little procrastination and interruption from other things). Silly work choices in terms of prioritising work already in hand.

Recording, singing, making MUSIC

5.2eighteen

Band goes into recording studio to lay down tracks! Two days and a massive headache later, we have 4 songs down. Radiohead go offline, then release new single. Finishing the last wall in Esh's flat! Lovely walk to the voting station, then the travel chaos that ensues (lineside fire at Vauxhall). Singing Meatloaf in the car, Mrs Loud solo, followed by winner takes it all!

Regrettable decision to go into Tag - has several knock-on effects with timing issues. Sadiq Khan becomes the new mayor of London. Dinner with Cath and Su in Cocochan. Offer su to come and stay with Mel and myself for a bit. Viewing Alexandra drive! Closest we've been to an offer yet. Lunch in Crystal Palace triangle at the CP Market. Love the area...

Whimsical little Sound of Music mix...

Womanhood

5.1seventeen

Beyonce's perfect Lemonade storm. R is confirmed gay. The news about Beeeeeee! Viewings and disagreements. Hilly fields is wonderful. Working at Tag and doing Gain cap work. Band problems... trying out Esh's new gym.

Soaking up the nighttime, lying in bed with E staring up at the stars on my ceiling. Weekend with Esh, walking through the park after viewing place that was so close to right... not enough sunshine though. Dinner at IC&LC's in their new home. Prepping and painting the flat!!

Silly little start to mixing up Sound of Music - very excited to continue. Whimsical bet placed on the Palace FA Cup game :) 4/1 on a straight out win (90 mins play).

Out & about, climbing and running around

4.4sixteen

Listening to Fratellis' new album - inspired to phone dad :) Gain cap work underway. Rohan and getting angry at Rz. Running there and back! Playing drums at home for the first time in forever. Rocked out! Played ukulele as well - need to do it more! Mom in Sodwana. Dr Hobbi for my white filling.

Bouldering!! COCKTAILS with the girls (mel & sj) at the luggage room after dinner at cocochon. Finally managing to chat to nes. Also phoned dad and ouma. Kicking around at the gym. Prince :(

Great big walkaround viewing one property after another. Viewing New Cross Gate apartment. Getting closer to the place we like. Short viewing of a terrible place in Forest Hill. Roast chicken dinner. Mowed the lawn half-heartedly.

Nessie's sculptures! Munnio's hood! Ams' superheroes are taking off in great colour! Palace in the FA cup Finals! Visiting Ams on Saturday morning, lunch with the Harringtons in Borough market.

From Vida - wow! https://amp.twimg.com/v/842478c2-363c-4e8b-937c-de7855484f38

Uninvited apologies

2.2six

Back at the fish of razor. Dan and E moving out :( Room listing up on Spareroom.com. iPad has died. Going on more dates with myself to the gym. Antt from varsity - blast from the past! And, speaking of, Arnz replied! \0/ Office Pingpong!

Email from ex's ex makes one of two uninvited apologies. Drum session went well! Beatles and Billy Joel on the ukulele! Nes's back might be better! Valentines Friday at Hawker House Streetfood fest with my lady :) SO FULL. Desktop pingpong and Art trumps! Room cleanup. Awesome breakfast. Skiing trip cancelled.

I don't like cricket, I LOVE IT

2.1five

Criiiiicket! SA ENG First ODI. Back at Tag for a day. Emergency afrikaans translations for Adw, Lunch with my girl, two gym sessions, one with a proper kick bag! First two ODI's not gone well for SA. Beatles Ukulele is a LOT of fun! Birthday album for Stephan (Simple plan), attempting Tatami (like sudoku), ironing all the pollocks, phone ouma (sounding much happier!), phone nes and sort out her site! Saturday with my girl, making chinese stirfry, coffee at hopscotch. Incongruwitty finally back on track.

3D pen doodling - Eiffel tower!

Back to Black. Heath halls. :-D Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky:

Angel Death Brain

1.3two

Chris hadfield desert island discs, Gym, Hippo in the sand. Sonata in c, allegro and andante! Massage with NES. Pilates with NES. Yoga with NES! NES website! Pool, mom wins twice! Shopping, coffee with Ester, squash with mom! Bodyboarding in Big Bay! Sunburn Harry Potter scar. Yoga at the Source (birth of Angel Death Brain), yoga at Catherine's studio. Cape Philharmonic Orchestra at the Town Hall, for a Viennese New Year; absolutely gorgeous. Missed Karen Zoid in Kirstenbosch. Being pelted by acorns in the new deli in Constantia. Greek restaurant with nes and raz. Aneesa's Avengers bag :) Meeting Raz' family. Playing Mozart's Sonata in C on Ukulele with mom on piano.