Alone, on my own, without company

Yes, this is definitely happening. Night in with The Killing, Johnnie Walker (yes, the cheap stuff - couldn't find Makers Mark on short notice) and making risotto later. Gonna miss this time off work. It's been exquisite and all too brief.

Happy New Year.

We stayed up as late as we could (1am) and then flopped out on the new mattress. Firm and unforgiving, my taste to a T.

Pan-fried up the remains of NYE dinner: some mash, boiled veg and the remaining eggs (3 whites, one yolk) then covered in Tabasco. I bet Avery Island is a sad, desolate place that smells like mace and vinegar.

Sunny today.

Getting rid of old furniture is proving difficult.
First driving lesson this Saturday.
I should cancel our TV service.
Found an old story (thanks Kevin) with breadcrumbs back to this blog, et voila.
Stylophone for Xmas. Chunky jumper, banana box and thermal underwear. All worn at once.
This house is full of electrical devices that speak to the Internet.
There is a picture on the wall that refuses to stay straight.
Lemons in the fridge never go bad.
Coffee stays warm in the Cuisinart carafe long enough for me to remember I made coffee.

A fantastic title. Full of wit, charm.

Hooray for food! Hooray for eating!

As you can see this is a test post. I'm testing something out on another blog I have (this time on Wordpress) so I'm testing the RSS feed. But it's nice to be posting on this blog again. In fact, I thought I'd forgotten the password. I haven't.

The caff on Hanbury Street which originally inspired me to start this blog has been shut for about a year now. There was little word of warning. A half-attempted petition to the landlord from some regulars, pleading with the landlord to renew the lease. But even the nice ladies behind the counter discouraged us from signing it. "It's too late." How sad. The price of tea is now £1 higher everywhere in Spitalfields. There's even one of those Kiwi coffee outfiits charging £3 for a mocha. You should see the size of it!

Oh well, the time, it moves on. Right, that's should be about all I need to say for my test. Good to see you again, Mr Blogspot. I'm moving house soon and looking for a new job, so you're still pretty far down on the list of priorities (at least I'm honest). See you around.

Cafe Open

Christmas Eve
London E8

It's Christmas!

New Poem - Gloom Cupboard 70

Lovely Richard at Gloom Cupboard [who I'm sure is lovely for more reasons other than the inclusion of my poem] has posted his last issue of 2008, Gloom Cupboard 70. There are some fine bits of work by Malerie Yolen-Cohen, Stanley H. Barkan, Enaam Alnaggar, the poet Spiel, Willie Smith, Dan Mootz, Dr. Ehud Sela, Maris Hurt and Steve Meador.

I would appreciate you checking out and supporting Gloom Cupboard.

In other news, I've been working a lot and cooking a bit more successfully in recent weeks. Pictures and thoughts to follow. I especially plan on force-feeding this blog over the Christmas holidays. Fois Blog!

Fifty Pounds

So we're budgeting now. Our combined weekly household/food spend is set at £50. We write down everything we purchase, how much it cost and who bought it. I'm amazed at how much money just flies out of my hand.

We're 3 days into it. Too early to tell. It's still the Blinking Mario period. But £50 is a lot of money. That's £200 on food. Surely that's easy to follow. No? We are budgeting 'cause Steve's retiring at the end of the year. Going part time and collecting his pension. Time to prioritize. I pop into Tesco for fresh chives and two pints of milk then magically appear clutching two bags of shopping, some coins and a receipt shoved in my mouth. I don't know. I'm an impulsive asshole.