Archive for March, 2010

101 Things in 1001 Days

Jenni posted at March 25, 2010 @ 12:53 pm 20 Comments

I’m a big fan of lists, and recently I’ve been signing up to a lot of social networking-esque things which allow me to make lots and lots of lists (my Tumblr is here, and my Remember The Milk is here). My latest interest is the 101 Things in 1001 Days project – which a lot of people create manually, but since I found a website which tracks everything for me I’m doing it that way. 101 Things combines two things I love – lists and goals. Whilst I’m not an obsessive over-achiever, I like the psychological benefits of moving forward, and the physical act of ticking something off a list or crossing it out. I have hundreds of lists all over the place, from work tasks to shopping to aims for Blossom.

My 101 Things in 1001 Days list is a mix of short-term achievable goals, things I would like to do, and long term things which will change my life. That way, I’m keeping myself motivated with goals I can achieve, and also thinking about the next few years and what I want to accomplish. My list also incorporates most of my new year’s resolutions, which admittedly could be going better…

I’ve spent some time browsing some of the other lists on there, and it’s inspired me to add more things to my list and has also helped me discover some new sites. So now all I need to do is get my head down and actually start achieving some of these things. Have you got any goals for this year or the next couple of years? If so, where (if anywhere) do you keep track of them?

(Side note: I’m aware that this entry sounds kind of like a sponsored post, which it’s not. I’m completely against having sponsored content on Blossom, and unless I end up on the streets, it’s never going to happen).

This evening I’m going home for a nice long weekend, and hopefully a nice long rest. The only thing standing in my way is my laser eye consultancy appointment tomorrow, which I’m not yet feeling nervous about – probably because I’ve been completely rushed off my feet every day and every evening for the past week or so. Last night I went to the cinema with Rich (love Orange Wednesdays), and saw ‘I Love You Philip Morris’, which was bizarre but funny. Jim Carey’s character was very lovable and Ewan McGregor was pretty good too. It wasn’t perfect, and it was very rushed at the beginning, but it seemed like a good choice with some of the other rubbish out at the moment. Next on my list is ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, which looks great – I love dragons!

I’m looking forward to Easter because it’ll be nice to have some time to catch up on life in general. I’m intending to put aside at least two days for working on Blossom related things because I have so many new ideas and I want the rest of the site to look good before I implement them, or even start working on them. Why do websites never end?? Also, I made a new theme banner a looong time ago (beginning of February), which is very unusual in that it’s Lady Gaga meets Anne Boleyn – beat that for randomness! I need to code a new theme and put that up..and also I have a banoffee pie recipe and some new photos for the stock photo gallery. Busy busy busy! So, what have you been up to recently?

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Crazy Cat Lady

Jenni posted at March 17, 2010 @ 9:17 pm 9 Comments

My housemate told me a few days ago that he was planning to find his cats a new home because he’s going to uni in London next year and can’t keep them. I assumed he didn’t want me to keep them because of Halo getting attacked, and he assumed I didn’t want them because of the long term responsibility. But the other night I just ended up blurting out that I didn’t want the cats to go, and then everything happily fell into place and I’m now a proud mummy!

It’s a big responsibility as the cats are only two and three years old, so they have another decade and a half left in them at least. Theo told me I could change my mind before he moves out in July though, and I said to him that I’d be happy to give them back to him in a couple of years or so if he settles somewhere. But yay, kitties!! I’ve grown so attached to them in the past few months that it would break my heart to see them go, especially as Theo was originally talking about having to split them up.

My only concern is that Halo came back with scratches on his nose the other day, and tonight he’s come back with a couple of small cuts on his ear but nothing like as bad as the damage to his legs. I’m keeping an eye on him anyway….by which I mean he sits on my legs when I’m watching TV and is cuddled up next to me now as I’m typing this in bed. He has this annoying habit of lying on my bed right up against my bedside table and casually knocking things off it onto the floor on purpose. My glasses and my phone have crashed repeatedly to the floor…which is almost as bad as Chief’s habit of walking on my laptop when it’s on the floor (my own fault though for putting it there)!

A few bad things have happened to my friends recently, including three burglaries, and a mugging, which happened to my housemate Ben yesterday. He wasn’t even out late – it was only 10:30 and not far from the house either. He ended up handing over his wallet and phone, although he did ask if he could keep the SIM card (!) and the muggers agreed. Apparently they were quite cordial (?!). It does make me feel uneasy living here now though and I’m even more paranoid than usual at the moment.

Work’s been quite busy recently because I’m more involved with the central marketing department now and I have a lot more stuff to do. One thing I’m concentrating on right now is descriptions for a big Adobe release which involves a ‘secret product’ and new releases of some old favourites. I’m finding it geekily exciting because I know the release dates, the products and the features even before the rest of the Internet does…and the secret one has a lot of interesting potential. One of these ‘classic’ programs I’ve grown up with, and ten or so years ago I would never have dreamed about being involved with it on such a geeky, slightly insider level. I know, I’m easily pleased. It makes a change knowing stuff, as opposed to doing Apple marketing where you never have insider information as they work on a need to know basis.

What else? Well, I’ve been exhausted pretty much all the time recently. I’ve been so busy and I’m spending so much money this month. It’s the most expensive month of the year for me because it’s everyone’s birthday (or so it seems) plus Mother’s Day. Last weekend I went home for it and had some nice family time. This weekend is Vitushni’s birthday and next weekend it’s my sister’s, and I’m having my laser eye surgery consultation as well. Last week I also spent far too many nights eating out and seeing friends, especially as my days are kind of hectic already. On a typical weekday it goes as follows:

7:15 – Get up
7:15-8:15 – Do a half hour workout, wash/shower, get dressed, feed the cats, prepare food for the day, go to the bus stop
8:15-9:00 – Read on the bus/get to work
9:00-5:30 – Work, with an hour for lunch which is often spent shopping/walking/randomly surfing the Internet
5:30-6:10 – Home on the bus
6:10-7:30 – Relax, watch TV, feed the cats, eat dinner (or go out), do the washing up if it’s my day
7:30-11:30 – Various things, anything from household chores to crashing on the sofa, sleeping, web design, surfing the Internet, playing Catan, catching up on emails, paid writing, working on Blossom and more.

I’m happy because I’m a lot busier in the evenings than when I lived down south, but at the same time it’s quite exhausting because there are so many things to think about and juggle. Even one thing going a bit wrong can throw my whole routine out, and by the weekend I just want to sleep. Which hardly ever happens, because weekends are for food shopping and recycling and laundry and spending some of my hard-earned money, seeing friends and spending proper time with Joe. I really need a break, especially as work is so hectic at the moment, so I’m happy that the end of March marks the new holiday year for the company, and I also have the 26th and 29th March off for a nice long weekend. Let’s hope there’s lots of time to relax :grin:

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Eat Me Drink Me

Jenni posted at March 8, 2010 @ 10:45 pm 9 Comments

Joe was 21 yesterday, and amongst going bowling, going to two restaurants, shopping, playing games and the million other things we did over the weekend, we went to see Alice in Wonderland with a couple of friends.

I’d been looking forward to seeing it for quite a while – and my sister wants to go and see it for her 19th in a couple of weeks, so no doubt I’ll be seeing it again soon – but maybe I overhyped it too much in my head because it just wasn’t that great. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are fantastic, the 3D works really really well, it was just lacking that extra something. The plot was a bit weak and an odd mixture of new and rehashed. Even Tim Burton’s usual gothic-weird touch didn’t really shine through that much, although that may be the Disney element overshadowing it. Alice was great, I really liked her although the odd line was wooden rather than dramatic. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was fab, and the Red Queen was awesome too. Anne Hathaway as the White Queen was rather annoying as she was sidelined to the extent where she was pretty much useless.

I grew up with the original Disney Alice in Wonderland animated film as one of my firm favourites, and I loved the way in which that really flowed from character to character and situation to situation – it was all very surreal and the songs were so catchy. The new Alice in Wonderland seems to be suffering a slight identity crisis (which fits Alice’s mental attitude and dilemma I suppose), and wasn’t really an adult’s film or a child’s film. I think this is quite cute, has good timing because the other one was so long ago, and pushes through with a great cast and amazing 3D. Oh, and a massive marketing budget and limited edition accessories. I think it’s okay, but I definitely wouldn’t pay £10 to see it again, and I might buy it on DVD when it’s about £5.

Work is really busy, my social life is pretty hectic, and I’m doing what I can to update Blossom. I’ve started another Twitter account so you can keep track of updates here if you want, or click the ‘Site Updates’ link just under the header on every page.

Next weekend it’s Mother’s Day here in the UK, it’s my friend’s birthday the weekend after, and then on the 26th I have my laser eye consultation appointment and it’s my sister’s birthday so there go all my weekends! As always it’s good to see people and do things though. I might be seeing Tabi tomorrow night as well so there goes the rest of my wages for this month!

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