One of the main things I enjoy about Facebook (other than getting in contact with amazing people from my past… and keeping in contact with people from my present) is the highly addictive Scrabulous. I have always enjoyed a good game of Scrabble (especially the rude version where you can only put down words that you can attach an innuendo to, or couldn’t say in front of a five year old) and having it on my computer for free is fantastic. It has even made me want to go and buy a new Scrabble board…

So, of course, when something becomes as popular as Scrabulous has on Facebook someone is going to notice and Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble, have noticed…

Hasbro, I am begging you! Don’t shut it down! Not until I have at least finished the 4 games I’ve got going on at the moment!

Although Herd-A-Word is becoming addictive (damn you Helen for inviting me to that!)

In other news… Amazon sent me joy in a box. Thank you Dan for alerting me to the cheapness of Jeeves and Wooster!

Today is one of those potentially annoying posts. But, my barely thought out blog, my rules.

My school year is all turning the big 3 oh, but we’re still kids right? I mean grown up stuff doesn’t really exist or happen for us yet right? But… well, one of the sweetest guys in the world has just become a Daddy, and has photos on his Facebook profile which made me all tear-y and my Mum drift into a awwww… realm. Huge congratulations Marc!

And my ol’ friend from 100 thousand years ago gets married in the new year, and I can think of very few who deserve the good times ahead as much as she. Massive congratulations Emy and Jon!

People’s lives moving forwards. It used to send me into a self obsessed funk but now I am just happy for them - does this mean I am growing up too? Oh no…

Speaking of growing up…

Today I was left on my own at work today for a few hours. I mean, other people were in the building but on other floors squirreled away in their own offices. I was flyin’ solo, Cap’n! And it felt good - I felt like there was trust and responsibilities and all that good stuff… And I just got on with it. There was one sticky moment but I handled it with my usual amount of grace and, well, the building didn’t burn down, there was no riots, and all the filing is still alphabetical… Can I call it? Yes, I’m going to…. It was a success!

In other news, I am really worried about my cat. She injured her tail a while ago, losing feeling in the end of it. The vet said it was fine - just to watch an make sure she didn’t trap it in anything. Well, something must have happened… about an hour ago it fell off… leaving about 5mm of bone exposed… Mum is being all calm about it while I am all for calling the emergency vet. She has had a number of bad falls recently. We kind of laugh about it, as she will just fall off arms of chairs and the sofa… anything she is sleeping or sitting on, and it is funny to see… but her balance is going fast and her confidence, which used to show in her leaps and bounds, is disappearing in a cloud of hesitancy.

I was, until about five minutes ago, hopping all over the internet looking for answers but am only succeeding in scaring myself stupid. Hopefully, an appointment will be available tomorrow and hopefully Mum will react appropriately. God, I hope I am just freaking out over nothing!

One more day and then holiday and time to catch up on blog reading… and sleeping!

I know it’s amazingly boring listenign to me dribble on about being ill.  But that and work (which I can’t talk about) are pretty much all that I’ve got going on at the moment.

I came home today and fell asleep in the chair.  Except for a little emailing I am finding it very hard to concentrate on anything real.  I saw a girl I knew very well in the street a couple of days ago -she told me some good news and then had to run off as she was late for a thing.  As she walked away she shouted back, ‘Add me on Facebook!’. Now, that would be a genius idea if I could remember what her name was.

I’ve been trying syllables out in my head… Seeeeee….arrrrrr….geeeee….miiiiii….loooooo….zaaaaa…. in the hope that one of them will jump out and trigger some memory.  I have looked through the old diaries in the vague hope that I was writing at that time.  I wasn’t…

I feel really bad about this!  She was really important to me!  I remember her daughters name and where her Mum comes from and about how she feels about her religion and lots of details, but nothing that will bring the Search number under 500+.  I even hunted through a mutual friend’s friend list to try and gain some inspiration but nothing.  It’s making me wonder what, and who, else I have forgotten over the years.  Maybe I should just start writing everything down again.

My old diaries are full of ‘details’.  Times and places and people’s full names and the exact way someone looked and sounded when they said the exact words I have written on the page.  Now they are full of vague feelings and random thoughts.  It’s gone from Realism to Impressionism in just a few short (well very very very long) years, via a sideshow of Minimalism.  It’s a whole history of Art - wonder what they will look like when I reach the Cubist or Surrealist part of my life?

Yep, that would be one too many cough lozenges.

Today was the Queen, and Prince Philip’s Diamond Wedding Anniversary.  To celebrate they did was any other couple who has been married for 60 years does - black tie dinner with the family and get 2,000 people to go to Westminister Abbey.  The service was broadcast on the trusty BBC with solemn tones speaking about how the Queen (then, of course, Princess Elizabeth) had to save rations coupons to get the material together for her dress and how one of the choirboys dropped his service sheet in a puddle when he ran outside after the wedding…

It was all rather moving, they played a recording of her saying her vows, and the bridesmaids talked about how they thought Philip was rather ‘dishy’.  I shed a little tear as they walked into the Abbey and the choir sang.

They might be crazy and scandal ridden but there is something in me that just loves our quiet and tasteful monarchy.  And anyone who makes it to 60 years and is still married deserves anyone’s respect.

Oh and can I just add…

Damned Facebook, and its damn games!  Over the last two days I have spent hours playing Scrabulous (Scrabble) on Facebook with my brother.  He has beaten me soundly several times which has bruised my ego a little, until I discovered that the amazing and obscure words he has been kicking my arse with have been nothing more than luck of the draw!  It’s all because he has been using the dictionary function which allows you to try words (or as he is doing combinations of letters) until something valid comes up.  He had a day off today which was spent mostly helping Dad clear out the bedroom as they are having new furniture fitted next week - found some very very old photos of me which I will be scanning in and putting on Flickr, and here, some time over the next week.  I was almost cute as a baby!

Right, I think I’m done. I have changed everything over to Out Of My Tree. As I mentioned in a comment somewhere I realy wish there was a copy and replace for the entire internet. It would ahve made the transfer of bloginess a hell of a lot easier.

When I made the decision to shut down Camel (which wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be) rather than do another redesign, I did consider for the longest time* leaving the blogosphere all together and concentrating on that of most evil things, getting a life.

And then I remembered something.

I already have one.

I have more close relationship’s with people online than I do in the real world. Maybe that is sad and tragic but I am way past the point of giving a crap about what is cool. The friendships I have made through this medium mean so much to me, and the fact that I will probably never meet most of you doesn’t depress me because I believe you don’t need a face to face to feel… y’know?

But that isn’t really what this post is about. It’s about this.

In India a man has married a dog to lift a curse that he believe was placed on him after he beat two other dogs to death.

Yep.

That’s what I said.

He was advised to do this by “an astrologer and others”. You just know that this had to have been an “I wonder if we can get him to do this?” pratical joke dare type thing.

And people think my life has gone to the… no, not even I can complete this sentence.

*about 10 seconds