helen-louise's journal

I have been in the US for three weeks now, and will be returning home on Sunday. In related news, I have well and truly messed up my sleep patterns. It is 5.57 am and I haven't managed to sleep yet.

I flew into Toronto on Friday 23rd March, and was met by Grant. We then drove into town and had dinner with maize, okoshun and clawfoot at The Hogtown Vegan. ( Pictures, mostly of food )

I haven't had much energy for livejournal (or indeed, any sort of extended writing) the past few weeks. Today I was planning to write about what we did with Grant while he was here, but I got caught up in chatting on irc and have burned through my communication spoons. Urgh.

So have some more pictures:

The three of us on the 37th Floor of the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street, London. 2016-02-21


Here is a another picture taken at the same time in which I exhibit a seriously smug face.

( We found the Poly lift! )

I am in Toronto with @Wicked_Shifty! Sorry for the lack of updates... the wifi in our hotel room is beyond terrible, so we've come down to the lobby to post sickening adorable pictures.





Shifty says, "Without internet, we have had to find other ways to amuse ourselves. Surprisingly, the TV hasn't been turned on yet." :D

Remember I was upset about seeing Paradise Lost in London - or rather not seeing them? Here's some photographic evidence.

This is what the stage looked like for a large portion of the gig:
( Read more... )

Last night I signed up for Flickr, purely so I could comment on other people's photos. I've been adding everyone whose usernames or real names I recognise. Except I've now fallen foul of the "Slow down partner!" restriction on new accounts, which is there to prevent spam. Fair enough - but there's no indication of how long I need to wait before I can add more people to my contacts list! Does anyone know?

I am, of course, using the name baratron. If you actually use Flickr, feel free to add me. (I've seen quite a few people I recognise whose accounts seem to be dead, but I'm not sure whether they really are dead or if it's just that they don't upload photos there anymore due to terms of service issues). Possibly, having existing users add me might be what's required to undo the "Slow down" marking, I'm not sure.

Just pics of us, nothing exciting. Principally for mjl who wanted to see Roly, the polar bear we got for Christmas. Apparently I'm an idiot, because I didn't realise my new MacBook Pro has an SD Card slot so I can copy photos directly without needing any cables. Ah well.

Me with Bug, Amber & Roly
2010-07-14. Taken by Richard.


( 5 more below the cut )

Here's an awesome set of photos that I should have posted the day I saw them: Winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 award. Features wolfy!

Also, I should be packing right now because we're off to Berlin tomorrow. Half of the clothes I want to take are still in the wash though. Argh!

Won't be reading much. See you when we get back.

Just in case you're not already sick of my going on and on and on about Freezepop, Richard's photos from the Boston shows are now online. Woo.

( Some previews... )

I have been busy uploading & tagging photos from various trips - some almost a year old.

dino Trip 7 - Modern Art in Manchester, 2006-09-22. If any Mancunians could tell me what the saxophones, Moon, bat wings & bees statue is called, or who it's by, or even what street it's on, I'd be most grateful.

Me, alexa_robinson, rowan_leigh, fluffymormegil (friends-only), at BiFest, 2006-09-23. (Tell me if it's ok to make this public.)

Various "new" photos of me & Richard, from 2006-12-28 to 2007-03-12. Features naked wuzzie-chest, if you feel you need warning of that.

dino Trip 8a - Minneapolis & the Mall of America, 2007-03-29 & 30. Features an iPod vending machine, Lego stegosaurus & giant octopus, and wedding chapel - in the Mall of America.

dino Trip 8b - Lost in New York, 2007-04-03 & 04. Features the Empire State Building, giant topiary bunny, a hideous golden statue outside the Rockefeller Center, and the Nintendo World store. And this rather nice picture of ancient & modern NYC. 95%-written post about New York just needs a quick edit & post.

Check out all his majesty. 2007-06-08

Why tricycles are better than bicycles, 2007-06-09.

My birthday party, 2007-06-21. Photos edited so it looks like the plushies went to the restaurant without us :) Delicious vegan food porn from 222.

Toronto Zoo photos, all uploaded & tagged. 75%-written post about the Zoo to follow. 2007-06-29

Photos of actual humans from alt.polycon 15 and from hoopycat & veryfineredwine's wedding will follow. They're the ones which take the most effort, as technically I'm supposed to contact other people before putting their photos online. What I'll most likely do is upload them all friends-only & get people to say if it's ok to make them public.

The past few days have seen me being butch DIY h-l. This isn't something that happens terribly often, so it's quite a sight to behold. I have been cleaning grease off floors on my hands and knees, washing down walls, painting walls, and filling Ludy's crack [1].

Ludy's new flat will be lovely when it's finished, but at the moment it's hideous. The previous tenants were obviously very heavy smokers (and possibly stoners, if the sticker advertising one of Amsterdam's more notorious "coffeehouses" is anything to go on). Everything is so heavily stained with tar that we thought the walls in the bedroom were cream, until Paul ripped off the wallpaper border to reveal pure brilliant white underneath. Washing down the walls is taking a minimum of four passes: sugar soap, rinse with water, repeat; and as you do so the smell of the smoke rises out of the paintwork. Honestly, if there are any smokers who need a graphic representation of what's happening to their lungs, I recommend you visit Ludy and help with the washing down.

Moreover, not only are the walls dirty, but they were also decorated by someone who watched too many episodes of Changing Rooms whilst high. I cannot adequately explain the horror of the bathroom in words - you'll have to "enjoy" the blurry photos I took on my phone's camera. It looks like a psychotic smeared blood and faeces on the wall. Who would do that to a poor, innocent bathroom?!

The bathroom has had two coats of paint and is actually possible to live with now; but it still needs another two coats to completely cover the evil dark blue splodges. We haven't attempted any of the other rooms yet. The bedroom "should" be easy, but I don't like to say that and tempt fate. The front room will take a while, because it's a) the most stained and b) the worst colour to start with. Two walls are a dark, bottle green, not entirely unlike the colour of 1950s Southern buses, while the other two are faded Routemaster red. Yum.

Go to the GALLERY OF DOOM. Warning: Do not view the Top of the stairs while eating or drinking. You may choke.

I'll try to go down & do more painting this weekend, but other volunteers would be useful, especially people who are happy to wash walls down (it's a slow, boring job), and ideally people who are confident up a ladder. Also if anyone has any suggestions for helping a displaced cat settle down, I shall pass them on to Ludy.

[1] Several, in fact, all around the bathroom walls and ceiling [2]. Ain't spackle grand?
[2] I considered further lowering the tone by explaining that I did the filling of the crack using my gloved hand, because it's more controllable than the implement intended for the purpose.