missprint

Rather predictably, I didn't end up doing any work last night and instead crawled into bed, read a bit of Forty Stories and then promptly fell asleep. I can always tell when I'm tired or overworked because when I wake up in the morning, I find random objects in my bed. This morning it was a green highlighter and yesterday's copy of The Guardian.

I was worrying a little too much over my tutorial with my supervisor I think. She didn't shout at me at all for only having my dissertation half done (in fact, no mention was made of it). She seemed to think that I had it all under control (err...) and she is currently reading over my first 5000 words. I've just realised that I didn't take out the embarassing extended Wizard of Oz metaphor. Oh dear god. I don't know how I'm going to look her in the eye when I've written a sentance as bad as this: "By the time “Notes From The Front Line” was written in 1983, the approach had been refined somewhat and the guerilla tactics on display in earlier work such as The Passion of New Eve (1977) had paved a yellow-brick road to the fairy-tale kingdom for Carter." Oh just shoot me now.

In cheerier news, Lily Allen's new video for LDN has been put up on her MySpace. LDN seems to have been remixed for the release, it sounds more polished and the calypso horn sample sounds cleaner. I must confess, not in a snobby I-liked-her-better-before-she-sold-out way, that I prefer what I imagine is the demo version that is on her MySpace. Anyway, it is still poised to be my summer anthem and I imagine that she will do extremely well. Watch her video here (Windows Media Player) and here (RealPlayer).

Also in LilyWatch: it says on her MySpace that her album is out in July 2006 and LDN was put on the Radio 1 playlist last week, so I think the single will be out soon. There are also pictures from her Vogue photoshoot on her MySpace, so I think she'll be appearing in it next month. Hoorah.

So, today I spent half an hour on the phone to Wanadoo because my broadband connection had cut out for about 3 hours (luckily, I was asleep for 2 of those hours, otherwise I would have probably been in a rather high state of distress.) After asking for my details (and asking if I could be called by my middle name because he couldn't pronounce my first name), the nice Geordie man who was dealing with my enquiry had to put me on hold for 10 minutes because his computer crashed. This hell was only compounded by the fact that the hold music that Wanadoo uses is a musak version of David Bowie's Heroes. Anyway, after getting me to unplug and reset my Livebox and reset my ADSL configuration, he was stumped. By the way, prospective Wanadoo broadband Mac users, don't believe what the Wanadoo website says about no technical support for Mac users because they do provide tech support for us. If you are thinking of taking up the Wanadoo wireless broadband package, then you will need to print this out in order to install the Livebox, as the instructions and installation CD are strictly Windows only. Anyway, the end to this rather dull story, is that I was on the phone for half an hour only to be told that the fault lay with BT, as they had been swamped with calls all day from the London area. As I was pondering how I was going to cope without t'Internet for the evening, my Livebox started blink-blink-blinking away and my life as I know it (sadly) was restored.

A survey stolen from Stuart:

Write fifteen statements, all intended to different people and never tell anyone which is meant for whom.

One // I know that there's an age gap between us and that perhaps we're unlikely friends but I'm so glad I've met you. Up until then, I was feeling pretty lonely this year in the Big Smoke because most of my friends are scattered around the country but you've proved a very dear partner-in-crime.
Two // I am so proud of you for everything you've achieved this year. Sometimes you don't have faith in yourself and I know that you are so much more capable that you believe yourself to be but it's okay because I have more than enough confidence in you.
Three // You piss me off and make me laugh uproariously in equal measures. I couldn't live with you, you'd drive me crazy. But as far as late-night phone conversations and Friday nights in go, you're definately All Time Top Five material.
Four // I feel like I've really drifted apart from you this year. You are still definately the mysterious one and I fear that this will always be the case but you'll never be out of the loop.
Five // I go through phases of thinking about you sometimes. What would you say if you knew that I had a Belle & Sebastian CD in my collection now?
Six // It's odd how just as I was thinking about you, you showed up. I'm sorry for the way I left things, you deserved much better but to be honest, you were driving me crazy and I'm glad that things ended.
Seven // I can't figure out whether you hate me or you're just quiet. I shouldn't really care.
Eight // I can't believe I had a crush on you.
Nine // I'm sorry I'm not a better friend to you. I have no excuse really.
Ten // Why is it that I can express my feeling so easily to everybody else but not to you? I don't say it, but I do.
Eleven // I wish I could make things better for you and sometimes I feel like we've drifted apart because we don't seem to laugh the way we used to. And then, sometimes we do. Your kindness and friendship is never unappreciated.
Twelve // I haven't told anyone, but I think you're kinda cute. You remind me of Alex Kapranos.
Thirteen // We always make promises to keep in touch but we never do. But you understand because you're in the same position as me.
Fourteen // I'm sorry that we lost contact but it was kind of too full-on.
Fifteen // We don't have much in common and it took us a while to find a way of getting along but I'm glad that we did.

That was kind of liberating but terrifying at the same time.

More survey fun. This is based on a feature on Jo Whiley's show a couple of weeks ago and I've been meaning to do it for a while now. Imagine that a film is made of your life and choose a track for each type of scenario as listed below:

Soundtrack To Our Lives

Opening Credits // It's My Life - No Doubt
Waking Up // Fill My Little World - The Feeling
Average Day // Overload - Sugababes
First Date // Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
Falling In Love // Lovestruck - Will Young
Love Scene // The Real Thing (Wendy & Lisa Flow Jam Mix) - Gwen Stefani
Fight Scene // With Or Without You - U2
Breaking Up // Nothing Good About This Goodbye - Rachel Stevens
Getting Back Together // I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson (shamelessly pilfered from High Fidelity, I know)
Secret Love // My Favourite Mistake [Live] - Sheryl Crow
Life's Okay // LDN - Lily Allen
Mental Breakdown // Move Any Mountain - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Driving // Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters
Learning A Lesson // I Don't Like Mondays - Tori Amos
Deep Thought // Everything's Not Lost - Coldplay
Flashback // Again - Faith Evans
Partying // Love Machine - Girls Aloud
Happy Dance // Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn
Long Night Along // Song For The Leftovers - A Camp
Death Scene // In My Life - The Beatles
Closing Credits// To The End - Blur

Hmm, time for dinner I think. Well, actually it's very late to be having dinner but what with my screwed up body clock, I'm gonna be up for hours. Anyway, let me know your selections for the Soundtrack To Our Lives. Pip pip.