@robotnic

BED4 Day 14: I know, I know

2012-04-15T00:02:00.000+01:00

If you're wondering where I've been, the answer is on one of those.

Flying has really mucked my week up. What day is it, again? It doesn't seem as if it should be the weekend already - or mid-April, for that matter. But I did arrive home to easter eggs, cups of tea, and the cat, so it's all good. I also slept for 12 hours last night os jetlag hasn't caught up to me quite yet. (Oh it will, it definitely will.)

Aaand there it goes. Why am I still writing these? Ok, goodnight.

BED4 DAY 11: Yup

2012-04-11T23:28:00.030+01:00

So it turns out that attempting to blog every day for a month whilst suffering social media burnout is not a particularly wise decision. It has also been my last few days here.

We went to our favourite sushi place tonight, not having been for quite awhile, and everyone was really excited to hear about our getting married and moving away. Evan and I have been eating there since I started visiting and he's been a regular for some ridiculous number of years so that was really sweet. They gave us a huge free ice cream, took our picture which they put in a card, and made a flower out of a strawberry. Evan sheepishly remarked that he was planning to return sometime in the next 2 weeks before he leaves for Scotland. Haha! Awkward.

Other than that we've been hanging out, having a look at some flats online, and getting geared up to move. I'm excited to get moving - it's been a long time coming.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to blog tomorrow before I leave, if not Twitter is going to have to count as a legitimate form of blogging while I travel. I take a red eye flight to Heathrow and by the time I get there 19 hours will have elapsed. Wish me luck!

Catchye next time, BEDA.

Nicola

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4 Day 9: FailBlog

2012-04-09T16:00:00.000+01:00

Totes keeping up with BEDA.

So 2 nights ago we returned from LA, exhausted and full of the cold. You can imagine what happened next. Yesterday we spent the day with the family for Easter (which involved barbecue food, golf and baseball on TV, and a couple of scratch-cards), and I thought about then forgot about blogging. So there you have it.

Today we've already been for a big breakfast and shopping for some bits, so having emptied my bank account I feel a bit more ready to head home in a few days. But not by much.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have packing to do.

If you're reading this please do let me know. How is your day going?

Nicola

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4 Day 6: Gorgeous Bourjos

2012-04-06T23:54:00.008+01:00

Today was mostly spent eating sushi and watching baseball (though not at the same time). Evan and I drove down to Anaheim to see Angels vs Kansas City Royals. It was a pitchers' duel until the 8th inning when the Angels finally scored a few runs. Afterwards as we walked back to the hotel there were tons of fireworks, both from Angels Stadium and a few miles off at Disneyland. Shit's poppin'.

Tomorrow I'm planning on doing some shopping at the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, then we'll be heading home to collapse and read/watch baseball for the remainder of the weekend.

How is everything going for you lot?

Nicola

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4 Day 5: BRB, in LA

2012-04-05T23:59:00.000+01:00

It's a weeeee bit after midnight but I've just returned from an evening with Steven and Evan -2 Evans, in fact - after a surprisingly quick drive to LA and an uneventful afternoon.

Tomorrow we're heading down to Anaheim to Angels (baseball) opening night where many hotdogs will be eaten and all that good stuff.

Stay classy, BEDAers.

Nicola

(P.S. There are more photos on my Instagram @robotnic.)
Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4 Day 4: Booking it

2012-04-04T23:05:00.020+01:00

Coming to California now turned out to be a great idea, for a variety of reasons. Things are picking up and I think the timing is going to be good. Cue mid-May freak-out.

Tomorrow Evan and I are heading down to LA to visit Steven (breaking our tradition of meeting up in different cities each time), going to baseball opening night at Angels stadium, and doing a bit of hard-earned shopping. California!

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

Currently reading: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams & In Glorious Technicolour by Francine Stock

BED4 Day 3: Humpday

2012-04-03T22:56:00.001+01:00

I've been off films lately, and I'm not sure why. It is, in part, a change of environment. It's the switch from readily available free screenings to attending the cinema with a ticket and a friend like everyone else. It's a lack of desirable medium (the XBox broke so Netflix via laptop is my only option at the moment). But it's also something else that I haven't put my finger on yet. Last month I watched only 10 films, but finished as many books. Reading seems more important than writing at the moment, and watching even less so. It's a self-imposed limitation but it can't be allowed to last. That's one of the reasons why I'm blogging every day in April.

I always thought this sort-of cyclical uncertainty and reticence would dissipate over time, but it hasn't. How do you deal with writer's "block"?

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4 Day 2: Confessions of a Part-time Blogger

2012-04-02T22:25:00.000+01:00

I spent a lot of time looking at blogs today, which may seem like a good way to gather inspiration for a daily blogathon. In fact, it's a good way to realise the reasons why most blogs are unread, or plateau, or are lavished with attention and then left abandoned in an internet wasteland.

You'd be surprised to learn how many blogs out there don't contain the author's name (or, in many cases, even a pseudonym or moniker) and which drone on interminably with no indication to whom its 'I's and 'we's belong. Many don't link to any other nodes of the writer's web presence, or even an archipelago of similar blogs. Some exist as though in a vacuum, incongruously boasting a mysteriously large follower count or number of comments. Many are addressed to a single anonymous person or entirely for self-preservation. It's a strange, disconnected world out there.

Despite all this, returning to personal blogging can be fun. This blog is revived exactly once per year for this very purpose. In the same way that today I enjoyed a freelance day amidst a holiday (an inversion of my usual routine), blogging is an easy switch to flip. At times, upon one's return, things no longer really fit, and there's a tendency to get onto a new platform or a new username altogether. BED4 for me has become an experimentation, an examination of the blogging tendency, a story told not through individual posts but an overarching timeline.

It's weird as fuck, man. It really is.

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

BED4: Day 1

2012-04-01T20:18:00.000+01:00

And so we meet again April, Blog Every Day. It's been awhile. And it's very odd to think that this is the fourth year running.

A lot has changed this past year, but for now I'm back in California before going home to some even bigger changes. I don't know how much will happen in the next month but we will soon find out.

See you tomorrow, and the next day, etc.

Nicola

Twitter / Tumblr / Uncultured Critic

Muffit of Tea

2011-05-09T18:41:00.001+01:00

Lately, I've been craving the perfect cup of tea. Back in 1944, author and tea enthusiast George Orwell (serious, wasn't he?) wrote about the art of tea-making. (Full transcript here.) Updating this solemn document earlier this year, Englishman in America Christopher Hitchens regaled the readers of Slate with with the commandment How To Make a Cup of Tea. Though directed largely at Americans, British coffee shops could learn a thing or two from our eloquent tea aficionados.

Whilst languoring in search of the perfect brew in and across North-Western continents, I was contacted by CSN Stores, who offered me a voucher to review their goods. Spying their tasteful collection of tea-making accoutrements, I couldn't resist giving their beautiful Le Crueset stonewear classic teapot in blue and Sabichi Essential Taper Shape Whistling Kettle a whirl with an especially aromatic box of loose English Breakfast and my long-held hankering.

Le Crueset Teapot

Although, as Hitchens rightly points out, Assam has fallen out of fashion, the rules I was most keen to replicate were very hot, very strong tea, bringing the pot to the kettle and not the other way around. I primed the teapot to get it nice and warm and filled the kettle and placed it on the hob.

Sabichi Whistling Kettle in action

Having been a slave to a Tesco's-own fast-boil electric kettle for years, the amount of time it took this baby to whistle was a little disconcerting. However, great art takes time, and I have to say the piercing whistle of compressed water is music to the thirsty tea drinker's ears: far more rewarding than a violent click! Meanwhile, the cat popped by to say hello.

Sooty awaits his cup of tea

Using a little more than the recommended 5 teaspoons of tea, the teapot was brought to the kettle as it boiled, filled with still-boiling H₂O, and the timer was set for it to brew. (I even set the teapot on a stone mat that reflects heat to keep it piping hot!)

Teacups in waiting

Using a strainer, I poured the (hopefully perfect) tea into warm waiting cups - adding the milk afterwards, as Orwell stipulates, and keeping the sugar far from reach.

Cups o' Tea

While it's a bit of a palaver to get everything together, sometimes a girl's got to have the perfect cuppa. Thanks to Hitchens, CSN, Le Crueset, and Sabichi, it's a wee bit easier to have a nice hot muffit o' tea. Now, if only I could get my American man to get it right, I might be able to have one that's hot and perfectly brewed every day. One can only hope.

A massive thanks to CSN, who have unwittingly unleashed an obsession with sparkly kitchenware and new-found need for a good pair of oven mitts.

How do you make your perfect cup of tea?

B3DA #30: Bye bye

2011-04-30T16:47:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the last day of April!

BEDA aside, I've been looking forward to April's end. I don't know why, but April's always kind of a suck. This one has been fine, but May is almost here and promises to bring new opportunities and time to tie up loose ends. May's going to be a time of planning, followed by a month of hard festing, and hopefully a wee trip in July while I write up my Masters portfolio. I'm hoping to have some work on the go and a new place to live by August. Wish me luck!

Though I always enjoy the challenge of BEDA (click over here to check out years one and two if you so desire), it's tough to keep up when busy or when I have nothing to say about myself. With that in mind, I'll probably be blogging over here a little more often -- we'll see how it goes.

I hope you've all enjoyed BEDA, and if there's anything you'd like to see on this blog or over at Uncultured Critic, do drop me a comment or an email to say hello and tell me so!

'Til next time!

Nicola

Image by Dvortygirl.

B3DA #29: Things I Love / Follow Thriday

2011-04-29T22:41:00.000+01:00

What's up, end-of-April?

Things I Love Thursday:

I've had a fat-ass week of dinners, coffee-tasting, wine and gin with friends, long walks, and sunshine. It has been good to be offline and out enjoying the bank holidays. Basically, Spring has been good to me.

Follow Friday:

I am totally crazy about the Paris Review Blog. In particular: the story of the Westminster Abbey organist, the staff's weekly picks, and editor Lorin Stein's literary agony uncle column: Ask The Paris Review. Hope you all read and enjoy it!

'Til Tomorrow!

Nicola

B3DA #27: Speaking of Movies

2011-04-27T17:49:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, BEDA, I've been slipping. Despite having missed about 4 days now, there are only 3 to go, and I'm determined to finish out the month!

It's been a busy week, filled with noshing, drinking, and generally being out a bit too late. Last night I went to the GFT film quiz with Evan, Graham, and Sam. Despite having come in a respectable 3rd on my last couple of visits, we were unprepared for Branagh-grams (best name for the worst quiz round ever!) and naming ever film starring Reese Witherspoon. Looks like we've got some research to do. Other than that, though, we had a good time.

Today I've been working away on Quotables and finally fired off a few emails I've been psyching myself up to send - which I'm feeling pretty good about it so far! I'm also keeping busy looking for flats in Edinburgh for over the summer, so there's tons to think about.

Book update: Currently reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I have a week to finish this and The Year of the Flood for book club.

What are you reading or getting up to these days?

B3DA #25: Backdated

2011-04-25T23:59:00.000+01:00

It's 1.22am and I just got home after leaving the house at 10am.

My day was filled with Thor, food, coffee, cheese, wine, brownies, and great chat.

I has a stomachache. And a happy.

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #24: Holibags

2011-04-24T22:53:00.000+01:00

Happy holiday weekend! How is everybody doing?

This weekend I have been mostly: eating, watching movies (Hanna, Scream 4, Raiders of the Lost Ark), drinking gin, reading, hanging out with the family, and stuffing my face with 12 kinds of Easter chocolate.

Tomorrow, we're going to see Thor.

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #23: Belated Follow Friday

2011-04-23T23:59:00.001+01:00

That's me lately.

A belated happy Follow Friday to you! This should be an easy one, right?

Well, first off, you should follow me! @robotnic

My B3DA Buddies: @librariansti @autumnleeves @beckie-jean

My man, @diamondnerd

My pals: @usherette, @ktandersonblogs, @factionman, @lalamaguire, @anna_cook, @amyhawes_runner, @hollyjunesmith, @rosiehopes, @paulegreenwood, @paulcgallagher, @jon_melville, @kevinlongrie, @stevenraymorris, @anclag

Some great bloggers: @realjohngreen, @chrisguillebeau, @whatkindofgirl

Funnies: @jakemccaffrey, @atlasbagshaw

Film buffs: @filmfan1971, @nrm1972, @popcornreel, @janiceforsyth, @scottfilmcritic

And some good reads: @parisreview, @newyorker

Hope you find something in there to enjoy!

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #21: Things I Love Thursday

2011-04-21T22:03:00.001+01:00

I'm having a Holly Golightly moment. Surely this can't be Thursday?

Despite having completely lost track, some highlights of my week have included.

Tim Minchin - Evan and I bought some last-minute tickets to see Tim Minchin live with the Heritage Orchestra this week, and holy bleep was it worth the scalp tax! Despite paying a premium for not having booked back in September, our seats were decent, the material was new (and, of course, hilarious) and the orchestra absolutely blew the roof off. I've been a fan of the ginge since about 2008 but never managed to see him live until now. If you haven't the chance to see him I recommend picking up his new live DVD. I'm sorely tempted to go to his added date on 8th May.
High Tea & a chat - High Tea at the Butterfly and the Pig is becoming a weekly expense, but nothing beats tasty sandwiches and some cakey indulgence over a belated catch-up.
Getting a Haircut - I'm one of those people to whom getting a haircut is like getting a full-body massage or using a hot tub. I make a habit of scheduling my haircuts after big deadlines and stressful weeks - chopping off all that excess weight while decompressing feels sooo good.
Holidays! - I'm currently off work for almost two weeks (with one day on in the middle), and although I still have a couple of deadlines and things to work on, it's good to be able to cut loose and spend some guilt-free time with Evan. We've also been hitting up the cinema and eating a little too well. Hope you all have a happy Easter weekend!

Et aussi - Catching up on my reading; Vienetta; walking miles through the West End in the sunshine; payday; wrapping up big projects; looking forward to, and not stressing about, the future; book club; Tuborg beer; laughing; and awaiting Bossypants.

What's brightening your Thursday?

B3DA #20: How to not blog

2011-04-20T23:59:00.000+01:00

The only problem with blogging every day in April is that you don't necessarily have something to say every day in April.

I had a long day. After work, instead of going straight home to stew as planned, Evan and I went out for a nice dinner, a couple of beers (Tuborg suddenly got way more delicious, we think there may have been some kind of incident), and watched the delightfully crap (read: dreadful) Hall Pass.

Tomorrow I'm getting up on the quick smart to watch and review Hanna and (finally!) get a hair cut.

I'll see you there or I'll see you on another time.

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #19: Book(s) Review

2011-04-19T23:23:00.000+01:00

Aww yeah. I finished and handed in my final essay today, so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. As well as celebrating with a spot of afternoon tea, Evan and I have spent the evening curled up with new books for some guilt-free reading.

Since I don't have any recent finishes to review (I re-read Looking for Alaska and have just picked up HP6 after reading a third and deciding to take a break), I figured this would be a fine time to review my 52 Book Challenge thus far. It's week 16, so I'm still doing ok for time.

Here's what I've been reading in 2011:

1. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

2. Candide by Voltaire - Review

3. The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier - Review

4. One Day by David Nicholls - Review

5. Room by Emma Donoghue

6. Zombiecorns by John Green

7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

8. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

9. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

12. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

13. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

14. Bette Davis by David Thomson

15. Looking for Alaska by John Green

Clearly I ought to get back into the habit of reviewing books!

Are you on GoodReads? Add me over there so we can stalk each other's book shelves.

What are you reading at the moment?

B3DA #18: Impatience

2011-04-18T17:07:00.000+01:00

Since I'm not feeling so bright today, here's a blog post I wrote about a month ago and didn't publish here. It's basically about how much I hate myself sometimes.

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

--

I've been putting such a premium on originality lately. Like, I'm not even kidding. I am such a hipster. Not 3.5 days into the Charlie Sheen media frenzy, I'm already sitting there: monitor blaring, mouth agape... not in shock, nor horror, nor wonder - not even in intellectually-fuelled concentration. In boredom. Dude is having a full-frontal public meltdown, carried out online (my office, my playground), and I'm already passing it up with an almighty yawn.

I find it happening in all aspects of my life. Someone reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the train? YAWN. Waiting 3 minutes in line? YAWN. Telling me there's snow in Scotland while there's a natural disaster halfway around the globe? You selfish motherfucker.

I'm obsessed, consumed by getting there first. If it happened 3 days ago, went viral before you found it, I'm not interested. My attention span is dictated not by the movement of the tides (even by this week's standard) but the upload speed of my latest Skype note (no doubt a lol or a yawn). Memes are my heartbeats. Even my analogies are tailored to the events of today. Which, by the way, are so yesterday.

There's this sentence I've come to fear. It's pretty innocuous, but to the addict of buffet-cart pop culture, it's poison.

You haven't seen / heard / read that?!

Unless you can say yes, then top it with a dubstep remix, you're drowning.

So. That's why it's time to take a step back. Not only do I word-count every 280 characters, but I can no longer conceive of a thought or opinion that can be expressed in over 4 paragraphs. It's time to miss out and catch up. Sometimes you've got to hit pause and give your ideas time to buffer.

Maybe I'll get my MLitt written while I'm at it.

B3DA #17: Icky/Clicky Sunday

2011-04-17T22:24:00.001+01:00

The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

Make sure you click through and watch that full-size.

I'm struggling today. On top of this essay I'm coming down with flu, which isn't the best state to be in on a Sunday night.

Since I didn't post any on Friday, here are some things I've been enjoying online:

When critics get it wrong - Danny Leigh on the critical duds of the age. I can't believe the critics hated Buster Keaton's The General!
John Green's pal Ransom Riggs has an awesome name, great writing and video skills, and a very unusual habit.
This vegan foods website has been caught using stock photos of non-vegan treats.
Tina Fey's press tour for Bossypants is kind of kicking ass. One. Two. Three:

'Til tomorrow!

Nicola

B3DA #16: Part-time Blogger

2011-04-16T23:59:00.000+01:00

So I didn't check the BEDA theme calendar and missed the boat on having a guest blogga. That's what you get for part-timing it.

Today I've been mostly watching Lolita over and over again (Kubrick's 1962 adaptation and the 1997 version), wishing I'd gotten started on writing this essay sooner, and feeling a bit blurgh. I definitely feel like I'm coming down with something.

Since I'm no fun, how about you go enter my giveaway? You can win one of three copies of Blue Valentine on DVD - all you have to do is leave a comment. Go do it now!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekends. I'll be trying to get this essay finished for a few days, so B3DA will be a bit of a toss-up between quick posts and over-indulgent procrastinatory ones. I hope you're all looking forward to that as much as I am.

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #15: Slight of Hand

2011-04-15T18:07:00.001+01:00

No magic tricks here, just a bunch o' links.

Firstly, if you haven't already, go enter my competition to Win Blue Valentine on DVD!

Also, it turns out that although Google posted their tribute to Charlie Chaplin today, his birthday isn't until tomorrow. However, if we have met you will know that I think any day of the year is a fine time to gie it laldy for Mr Chaplin, so the day before his birthday suits me fine! I did a quotable blog post about him on the Quotables blog, and encourage you to check out a post I wrote last year about why you ought to love Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton on Uncultured Critic.

Today I've been mostly working from home, fending off low blood sugar, and looking after the cat (poor buddy's not very well). This evening Evan and I are off out for dinner with a couple I've never met!

I hope you all have lovely starts to your weekends!

'Til tomorrow,
Nicola

B3DA #14: It's Only Thursday?!

2011-04-14T20:19:00.001+01:00

Pleeeease can it be the weekend already?

Apologies for the momentary blip in the blogging schedule - it seems that I'm not the only one who has slipped up! If this carries on we may need to do some naming and shaming, BEDA ladies!

My excuse? I went straight from work to dinner to book club, and didn't get home til I was ready for my bed. We read (or semi-read, or didn't read - bad month!) Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I know a few of you (looking at you, Christina) are big Pride & Prejudice fans... What do you make of the zombie rewrite? I found it mildly entertaining, if a little self-satisfied. Granted, I didn't make it much beyond about a tenth of the way through.

I've also been gearing up to batter into my Great Loves box set a.s.a.p!

In the meantime, why don't you take a stroll on over to Uncultured Critic, where I'm giving away 3 DVD copies of Blue Valentine? Go on, you know you want to!

Til tomorrow!
Nicola

B3DA #12: Baby

2011-04-12T23:58:00.000+01:00

I enjoyed this.

Lovely day in the 'burgh today. Productive meeting, good food, and coffee with a burrah pal.

I have to apologise for the half-hearted blogging - my RSI has been pretty bad lately so I've been staying off the computer. I hope you enjoy Nunes' tunes!

'Til tomorrow!
Nicola