John - Archived Entries for 2004 / 6

Try to pretend you don't want one of these tweed caps.

Dr John Hawkins

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Recent Entries:: Chie Back in England
Uneventful Saturday
John and Kev's Film Club
Voting
Shoddy Old Film Night
Tidying and Risotto
Re-arranging
Lazy Sunday
Visiting my Brother
Friday
Beer Beer Beer
Yet More Beer
Dominic
Lazy Bank Holiday

Chie Back in England: [Sunday 13th June] Chie came back to England today, which obviously made it a great day for me. Her flight landed in the evening, which conveniently gave me the daytime to tidy up the flat, wash the car and so on, before going to the airport to meet her.
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Uneventful Saturday: [Saturday 12th June] Stayed in an did very little all day really, apart from a little bit of work on the family tree, but didn't really manage to find any particularly significant leads...
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John and Kev's Film Club: [Friday 11th June] Following the mandatory couple of pints after work, Kev came round to my flat for dinner and further drinking. I knocked up a quick chilli, and we drank some more beer whilst watching Flash Gordon. This seems to be turning into my new hobby - watching naff old films from the early eighties. Towards the end of the evening, whilst drunk, I ordered a few more bad old DVDs from the dangerously convenient play.com, after a period of consultation involving the good old IMDB. The next morning (as I write) I couldn't actually remember the names of any of the films I'd bought the previous evening. Oh dear.
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Voting: [Thursday 10th June] After work today I went and voted in the European elections. On leaving the polling station I had a great feeling of satisfaction. It didn't last that long though, by the time I got back home I was already quite bored. Didn't really do anything at all the rest of the evening.
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Shoddy Old Film Night: [Wednesday 9th June] In the daytime I was in London. On my return home, I had some people round for my much awaited "Shoddy Old Film Night". We watched Krull first, followed by a real time edited version of Hawk The Slayer (i.e. lots of fast forwarding). Generally the evening was very enjoyable, although I'm not sure quite how literal people realised I was being when describing the films beforehand. There seemed to be a certain amount of shock that the films, particularly the latter of the two, really were every bit as bad as I had originally made out.
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Tidying and Risotto: [Tuesday 8th June] After work went for a quick pint with Kev et al. On return to my flat, did a bit more tidying up. I haven't done a proper supermarket trip for a while (largely because Chie hasn't been around so it would mean going on train/foot), so the cupboards are getting pretty empty. Managed to scrape together enough odds and ends for a mushroom risotto. The old risotto has often been the last meal I've been able to make before I really have to do some shopping.
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Re-arranging: [Monday 7th June] Spent the evening tidying and re-arranging my flat, particularly the lounge, partly in preparation for Chie coming home (will hopefully be on the 13th), and partly for my planned "Shoddy Old Film Night", which was pencilled in for Wednesday. It was very hot today, so may not have been the best day to choose for lugging furniture about!
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Lazy Sunday: [Sunday 6th June] Didn't do much really. Watched Sen To Chihiro (Spirited Away) again, and found it pretty sad this time round. I guess I'm just in a bit of a funny mental state of late.
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Visiting my Brother: [Saturday 5th June] Decided to pop over and visit my brother and his family. The kids were both lovely as ever. Didn't stay long - I got there about 3 and left about 6ish. Felt generally a bit miserable all day, probably largely down to missing Chie. I couldn't help but think about Kana (Chie's sister) a lot as well. I have kept really busy since I came back from Japan, and this was probably one of the first quiet days I've had, which naturally caused me to think a lot more than usual.
At my brother's house, there was a toy - a duck with a bell in it - which I'd brought back from Japan to give to my nephew, not long after he was born. The day I bought it, Chie was busy doing something or other, so I'd actually gone to the department store with Kana, Chie's sister, instead. Kana helped me chose it - we had to talk to the shop assistants quite a bit to find something that was suitable for my nephew's age, and Kana did all of this for me. I remember we both had a good play with all the candidate toys first. We spent quite a while in the shop, and it was a really nice time.
Looking at the duck now made me quite sad though, I guess I hadn't expected to be reminded of Kana in my brother's house, a place she has never visited. On the other hand, trying to think positively, both William and Katie (my nephew and niece) really love that toy, so it is heart warming to think Kana has had an effect on people she never actually met.
Made a kind of stir fry for dinner, tofu and vegetables in black bean sauce with Singapore noodles. It tasted really nice, but somehow or other gave me quite a bad stomach ache. I seem to be suffering a lot with this recently.
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Friday: [Friday 4th June] Incidentally, today was my brother's birthday. He didn't have anything planned though, so I just sent a card and gave him a call in the evening. Went for a drink with Ian, was nice to catch up. Went to The Swan for a change, and was reminded how nice it was to sit by the river there. It's just a bit unfortunate they still seem to struggle so much with service. I waited at least 15 minutes when I arrived, despite there being 5 people behind the bar, and only one other customer (who just ordered a single pint) in front of me.
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Beer Beer Beer: [Thursday 3rd June] Went out in Reading with David and Simon. Started off with food in Nando's, then went to a couple of pubs for further beers. I have to admit I quite enjoyed it, although towards the end I started to miss Chie a lot. Still, hopefully she will be back in England in just over a week... I'm really looking forward to having her back now.
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Yet More Beer: [Wednesday 2nd June] After work, went to the pub with David and Simon, who just stayed for a pint, then stayed for a bit longer with Mike and Garry. Was determined not to drink too much, so left after my second pint. Went home and made dinner, had roast potatoes with broad beans and broccoli, covered in gravy. Verrrrrr nice.
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Dominic: [Tuesday 1st June] In the evening I met Tom and Sarah's baby, little Dominic, for the first time. He is naturally utterly adorable. Went for a Chinese meal at the place just round the corner from Tom and Sarah's, with baby and all. Food was very good, as always. Keith, the owner of the restaurant, also had a young child, so understandably there was lots of baby talk.
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Lazy Bank Holiday: [Monday 31st May] Bank holiday Monday, and I decided to do very little, which was surprisingly nice. Met Michelle and Steve for Lunch at my local pub, then came back home and spent the rest of the day lolling around the flat not doing very much. Seemed like the first real day off I'd had in ages.
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