Tock!

[j4]

Time passes. More stuff gets done.

Supermarket success: one bag of Taste the Difference Jersey new potatoes for only 60p in the end-bin, which will do nicely for lunches; a sweetheart cabbage (also reduced) and some bacon for dinner (a cabbage, bacon & cheese bake which we ended up combining with the leftover pasta, and very nice it was too if I do say so myself); and some little pears (reduced -- spot the pattern) as snack-food for work. Didn't impulse-buy anything unless you count the pears, and that's really to save me buying less healthy and more expensive things later.

I've been slipping a little on the not-spending-money front: bought two summer tops on the market (8 quid for the two of them) and henna from Lush (and some shampoo, but I need to wash my hair with something, and the Lush solid shampoos last longer). Also bought a "Saint" book on eBay, but that was only 99p (+p&p). However I still think I'm doing a bit better than I was before, and now I've transferred the cc balance to an interest-free one that's another 10 quid a month or so that I'm saving.

Started reading one of the books on my immediate to-read pile, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and decided that it's not really worth finishing -- feels like DWJ on autopilot, perhaps it's just intended for a younger audience? Or perhaps it's that I find DWJ less convincing when she's writing about wholly/mostly 'fantasy' universes, and at her best when she's writing more explicitly about the points where the lines blur between fantasy and the 'real' world. (See: Fire and Hemlock, Witch Week, Homeward Bounders -- in a way they're all stories about the power of myth/story, which is something that appeals to me a lot.)

I must convince myself that I really don't have to read everything in the world, or even everything in the house.

Having said that I did get through most of the first chapter of The Muse in the Machine: computers and creative thought by David Gelernter. It's interesting, but a lot of it seems quite obvious to me.

I also made progress on my dress for Glastonbury.

Comments

[kake]

The dress is looking fantastic.

[taimatsu]

Wow! The dress looks totally gorgeous! :) And congrats on the thriftiness too - I have just been catching up on your journal and these problems :/

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

*whistles, hugely impressed by the dress*

Ahem. Replies to the last thing you said as a throwaway comment at the end of a post are annoying, aren't they?

Yay for supermarket success, but (and I hate saying the difficult-to-hear things, because I know how hard it is to hear difficult-to-hear but well-intentioned things from the other end) a faint frown about the summer tops. (Unless, of course, you've accounted for things like occasional summer tops in your planning already.) I'm pleased they were cheap, but that's more or less wiped out the advantage you've made due to the CC front for quite a while. Glad to hear you're doing better than you were before, though, and I'm sure that you'll keep doing better and do better and better still.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

I would like to unsay the "throwaway comment" in the second paragraph, please. Stupidly dismissive choice of words on my part when it is a bloody cool dress and you have obviously put a considerable amount of time and effort into it.

General points still stand, though.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Okay, point taken, but one of the things I'm trying to hang on to is that if I slip a little it's not the end of the world, and I just have to try to slip less in future, rather than giving up in hopeless despair of ever saving any money. It hasn't "wiped out the advantage" from transferring the balance, that's a completely negative way to look at it -- part of the advantage of the transfer was in actually getting round to doing something about it, I can start paying the cc balance off now without feeling that I'm just pouring money down a black hole because I will be actually paying off the debt rather than just trying to keep pace with the interest.

And part of the reason I wanted to free up that money is that I'd rather be able to spend that 10 quid on something I want (whether for myself or for somebody else) than on making HSBC richer. I don't want to hoard money; you can't take it with you when you die, you know.

So yes, I have accounted for buying some frivolous stuff, because frankly if I don't I just get miserable. 8 quid is about three pints round here, for heaven's sake; and the tops will last longer than the beer.

[juliet]

Sounds like a v sensible attitude. Being in a similar position financially atm, I am not beating myself up about cracking and buying CHEAP BOOKS last week, because they will make me happy & slipping once in a while is *not* the end of the world. It's not even that hideous a crime.

(The trick, of course, is to think that whilst *at the same time* firmly reminding oneself that whilst slipping once in a while is OK, this does not mean that slipping *all* the time is OK.... :-) ).

BTW, sorry you couldn't make it to Panic last night, but it sounded like it would have been a bit of a bad idea for you, & certainly driving a long way whilst tired is *not* a good plan. Will see you at Glastonbury!

[j4.livejournal.com]

(The trick, of course, is to think that whilst *at the same time* firmly reminding oneself that whilst slipping once in a while is OK, this does not mean that slipping *all* the time is OK.... :-) )

Oh, yes, indeed. :-) Will not slip all the time. But I find it much more constructive to think "Hm, probably didn't need that really, will think harder before spending next time" or "okay, I bought that stuff I didn't need, that means I really can't buy any more lunches in town this week so I will just have to get up and make lunch before going even if I feel tired and lazy" rather than "STUPID! STUPID! You will die miserably in poverty while everybody else you know becomes happy, successful and rich beyond your wildest dreams!"

I wish I could have made it to PANIC, but I really do think it would have been dangerous trying to do the driving. Though in the end I didn't get to sleep till after 2am anyway, again, and now am utterly knackered. :-(

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

And also, tbqh, you have bought a bargain. Minimalist, low cost living isn't about not spending all the time, it's about spending within your limits. And part of spending within in your limits is sometimes saving money by spending it. ie buying six tubes of toothpaste when a three for two offer is on. You spend eight quid on two tops. That's not disastrous. Next time you see a top you want, you won't buy it, because you've just bought two tops. But you bought those two tops cheaply, ifswim.

Hi

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there. I have just discovered your journal and find it to be quite fun and great reading. I am currently working on a 12 hour night shift so find little gems like this a god send. Hope to chat more soon.
Mike

Re: Hi

[oldbloke.livejournal.com]

I used to do 12 hour nights, with not much to do except change tapes once every 40 minutes. I never got behind with my book pile in those days!

[k425.livejournal.com]

The "dead food" section is always a good place to shop. Jerseys for 60p is a bargain, and you're right, will do a few lunches, which makes them even more of a bargain!

Did DWJ do two books about cat magicians, or is that another fantasy author I'm thinking of? I see more of her books in the kids'/YA section and more fantasy, but I've not read much.

The dress looks stunning - colourful but not overstated, and lovely.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Did DWJ do two books about cat magicians

No idea, sorry... doesn't ring any bells, so if it is her then it's not ones I've read. But then I'd never even heard of the one I just started until my mum gave it to me (having decided she was never going to re-read it) so she's probably written a lot more than I realise.

Glad you like the dress. :-) I tried to make it rainbow-ish without doing rainbows in individual bits, IYSWIM...

[rmc28]

Cat magicians is Diane Duane, specifically The Book of Night with Moon and On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service. I think those books tie in with her "Young Wizards" series (So You Want To Be A Wizard is the first), but I haven't read the latter. I very much enjoyed the two cats books though.

I first discovered Diane Duane through her Star Trek novels which are a distinct cut above the usual spinoffery.

[k425.livejournal.com]

That's the one. I get the Dianes mixed up every time I want to remember. I'd've gone and looked on the bookshelf, but I lent my parents the books and Watford's a long way from Wet Yorks to check!

[burkesworks.livejournal.com]

Are you thinking of the books by Barbara Sleigh, all about Carbonel, the King of the Cats? These were absolutely wonderful books, long out-of-print AFAIK. Both Maureen and myself have fond memories of reading these when we were kids; though nobody else seems to have heard of them!

[j4.livejournal.com]

I have heard of them, and remember loving them as a kid (though I haven't re-read them for a long time). AFAICT they are currently out of print but they seem to be easily available on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/detail/offer-listing/-/0140301550/all/026-5487380-1634013) and there are a few copies on eBay (http://search.ebay.co.uk/carbonel_W0QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQsalocatedincountryZ3QQsocurrencydisplayZ2QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQsosortpropertyZ1) as well...

HI

[(Anonymous)]

Blimey you are very pretty.

Carbonel

[(Anonymous)]

or you could ask your sister if they're all still sitting in her room, and she'll say "yes, would you like to borrow them?" :-)

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

I also made progress on my dress for Glastonbury.

Wow! Just wow.

[nja.livejournal.com]

M3 T00. You have inspired me to start decorating my M&S jeans with a selection of overhead projector pens which I have found on my desktop. I do not think the results will be anything like as lovely, though.

[sparrowsion]

Realised this morning that the reason I didn't notice the full glory of the dress last night is that it's managed to drape itself such that the bulk of the decoration is hidden in a fold.

Make me smile

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

Your dress does. It is beautifully done.

Your perspective seems lots better these days. C'est fantastique. Hurray hurray for the longest days.

[lusercop.livejournal.com]

Should I be worried that I haven't got any kind of special costume for glasto? (even if I have been working hard with devilstick, and fire devil to get a good display sorted... :-/)

[j4.livejournal.com]

You're going to be doing something that requires incredible levels of skill, that will make everybody in the vicinity swoon in awe -- something which is actually a performance art, which is after all what the festival is all about -- and you're wondering if you should be worried that you haven't coloured an old dress in with some felt-tip pens?

[lusercop.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I don't appear to be that skilled at it. :-/ And the thing about "everyone in the vicinity swoon with awe" -- I wish! ;-)

When I started doing all of this poi/devilstick one thing I hoped is that it might help me pick up hot women. That hasn't worked. Oh well... It's lucky that's not the only reason I do it, I guess.

Still, I wish I had the creative talent to do the kind of things that you do. That dress looks awesome (as did the cakes and everything else I've seen you do)

[ceb.livejournal.com]

it might help me pick up hot women.

The ones who stand too close to the fire-poi? ;-) *ducks*

[lusercop.livejournal.com]

quite possibly. And I now have a shiny 20l jerrycan for taking all the paraffin I'll need for a week onto site. :-)

[ceb.livejournal.com]

Howl's Moving Castle does move between the fantasy universe and the real world, though it's not really essential to the plot. It does it the other way round, though; there's a section where Sophie ends up in the real world, which is told entirely from her point of view and makes a nice contrast to DWJ's more usual approach of describing the fantasy world from the POV of the real-world characters.

The Time of the Ghost is another one definitely worth reading if you love the more real-world books. It's about a girl who wakes up to discover she's a ghost, and is exceedingly good and really quite creepy.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Dress: Gorgeous!

HMC: yes, I think it's aimed around the 10yo mark (which isn't to say an adult can't enjoy it) and it's not as deft as say The Time Of The Ghost or Fire And Hemlock. I'm a sucker for the Chrestomanci series myself, but there are very few DWJs I don't like a lot.

Spending: you need clothing just as much as you need food. And like julietk says, a bit of knowing-you're-doing-it slipping isn't really significant slipping at all, so long as it's not every day. You need an indulgence now and then, and tops definitely are better than beer in that respect. Fewer calories, more colour. And they keep you cool, and if pretty are cheering, and they save you from being topless in public (although your potential attitude to that possibility may be different from mine. I've flashed too many people in the last year to willingly go without clothing...). ;-)

[j4.livejournal.com]

DWJ: I wasn't as impressed with The Time of the Ghost as with some of the others, not sure why. Maybe it's just that the ones I really like are ones I first liked as a child so I've grown with them, IYSWIM? I read Witch Week as a kid and loved it, The Lives of Christopher Chant (first read when I borrowed it from you -- thank you!) was good but didn't bowl me over in quite the same way. On the other hand Homeward Bounders was superb and I first read that as an adult. Have you got that? I've got a spare copy if you haven't...

<aside>
I've just gone to look at a DWJ site (http://www.leemac.freeserve.co.uk/chresto.htm) and it's now scrolling a message across my status bar in Netscape that says "Legends are an important source of true information". How nifty.
</aside>

Needing clothing: ye-es, well, I'm not short of clothing by any stretch of the imagination. :-} I can just always think of more kinds of clothes that I'd like...

Tops: they are (at least IMHO) pretty, and thus cheering. One is white, made mostly of something rather that strange ruched-lycra stuff that trendy swimsuits in the 80s were made of but with gauzy flouncy sleeves... it's nicer than it sounds, okay? :-) ... and the other is sleeveless, with open v-necked collar, in a 70s-ish red-and-black-and-beige design, big geometric patterns, very cool.

Toplessness: wouldn't bother me per se, in that I don't care if people see me topless, but I suspect it would probably draw unwanted attention of a type that I don't want.

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have THB. I think there's only about 3 DWJs I don't have (all 'younger' ones like Wild Robert). I think TTOTG was one of the first ones I read, so maybe I view it differently because of that. There's definitely an element of really liking books you grew up with and not-so-much liking ones you find later on, especially when the projected age-range for the book is a younger one. I have read some 'modern' children's books and find them not as gripping as ones I read as a child, which I can still reread with no problem. Familiarity breeds comfort, not contempt.

The tops sound nice. I bought a loud red-green-white stripy sleeveless one yesterday because what I'd gone out in was just too hot (and I promptly got yoghurt on it but never mind). And I finally found cheap Italia shirts for me and smallclanger although mine came from the Men's section and his from the Girls', so there's a strong strike for gender-neutrality (he already wears some girls' clothes anyway, they often have nicer options than the boys do. Boys aren't meant to wear colours other than blue green or black, it seems). If we're going to be surrounded by England flags and football shirts, we might as well go 'with' the crowd while simultaneously being against it. ;-)