Today Rafael Nadal won his seventh consecutive Monte-Carlo Master’s title, defeating the lovely David Ferrer 6-4 7-5. He didn’t play anywhere near his best, but that’s okay – it’s the first claycourt event of the year and he’s got time to warm up properly before Roland Garros rolls around. The best part about being a Nadal fan (so many long amazing years of slaying your fave, bb) is knowing he’s still only 24. Many records still to be made and broken before he’s done.

I love tennis. I also love watching Arsene Wenger’s face collapse in on itself when Liverpool are given a penalty in the 100th minute which is subsequently scored. Classic.

This weekend I’ve been enjoying a mixture of recreation and work. I went to see Norwegian Wood with Nat which I was excited about, but it turned out to be a bit of a snooze. It was beautifully shot and the acting wasn’t bad, but maaaannnnn was it bleak. As a result it felt torturously long. We’re talking Return-of-the-King-get-up-out-of-your-seat-and-get-the-blood-pumping-again long, even though in reality it just scratched the 2hr mark. What’s that all about?

Anyway…as well as the ongoing typing up of various things, I’ve also been pulling together some semblance a plan for publishing Revolve and the necessary little bits of promotion. I’ve also decided to expand online in general so that Fight the Sky and any future publications don’t go forgotten. I signed up for an author’s account on GoodReads (which is fast becoming a favourite website of mine – check the new widget I’ve got in the right-hand sidebar!) and have been busy building a profile on there:

I’ve signed up to a couple of other websites as well, but haven’t got around to sorting them out yet. I’ve also made a few adjustments and additions to Fight the Sky’s promotional webpage – you’ll notice the Paypal button in case you want to buy the book direct from yours truly, and a link to a new eBook version available via GoodReads. I haven’t finished Revolve’s page just yet (although you wouldn’t have to be a genius to track it down). I’ll get it linked up when the book is released.

Tomorrow I’m going to work on the Kindle edition of Revolve; the plan is to publish all versions simultaneously, save me worrying about it at a later date. Afterwards I’m going to stuff my face at Chiquito and die a happy lady. If I can squeeze in one of these as well then even better…

Just so I get it out of my system: Gaga’s new album cover is a travesty/lesson in why one should never abuse the lens flare function. I honestly thought she was trolling her own fans when she posted the picture on Facebook. Is it supposed to be ironic? I don’t get it. It looks shite. The only good to come of it is the influx of amazing internet macros (here’s another. And another. Whoever made these is my hero, I swear the internet is man’s crowning achievement). Her song Judas is also a flaming pile of wank. Why isn’t she fun anymore? Why all the pretentious lyrics about religion? Why can’t she just get drunk and have fun partying like she did in 2008? I understand artists wanting to progress but there comes a point when you just end up boring the fuck out of everybody. Classic example of fame going straight to somebody’s head. I miss Fame!Gaga. At least Britney’s still fun even when she’s dead inside.

In other news, CAN’T WAIT FOR SUNDAY DINNER, YES PLEASE.

I ate chips at stupid o’ clock this morning, so I’m denying myself food until dinner. I really need to get a gym membership or something, I feel so fat lately. I need to do more exercise and eat less shit. Maybe if I write it on here, I’ll actually go through with it.

• NO MORE CRISPS
• NO MORE CAKE
• NO MORE BISCUITS
• NO MORE JUNK FOOD

…wouldn’t life be depressing without all the good food? Starving myself is not an option. I’ll just have to moderate it.

ANYWAY, it’s photo time, aren’t you lucky? It’s going to take me absolutely ages to do this post. Good job I’ve got nothing better to do.

There’s the hotel on the left. It was right next to a canal, which was lovely.

The town itself was fantastic. Many of the buildings were several hundred years old, and still in use. The architecture was beautiful, and when it was all lit up at night, close to mind-blowing.

This is the belfry, where scenes from the film In Bruges were shot. For 4 euros, we were able to climb it…don’t ask why we did that. Fuckin’ knackered, mate. The view was worth it, though.

Pretty impressive, right?

We also went on a boat ride through the canals, and visited the Old Lady church. I do love me some churches.

The food there wasn’t amazing, but then again, Europe has always struggled to cater for the vegetarian. We found veggie burgers one night, and otherwise I snacked on frites and pizza. I also had a killer caramel waffle:

Here are some shots of the town lit up at night, which really has to be seen to be believed:

The main market square, with the belfry on the right.

You can see 50+ more photos from the trip if you have me friended on LJ, Scribbld or Facebook.

Myself and Lisa, in Bruges! She got us lost for that ice cream.

There’s not really much else to say, other than that it was the best birthday present I’ll probably ever have, and I can’t wait to go again. If you’re thinking of visiting, don’t hesitate. Just get on a boat (or a plane, or the Eurostar, or drive if you’re that way inclined) and GO!

Here be Stacey, myself and Lisa in Birmingham, on Wednesday. I caught the train to meet them (along with Mark and Dan) and we spent the day looking round the shops and drinking in Starbucks. I had a nice time, its always good to spend time with Lisa. She’s also invited me to go camping with her in August, which I’m truthfully quite worried about…I don’t know the other people who are going. Well, two of them I know, but not very well. I’m not a very sociable person, I actually like being alone a lot of the time. I guess I’ll just have to get deliriously drunk and hope for the best.

I got my final grades this week:

A — Creative Practice 3
A- — Short Stories
B+ — Focus 3: Responsibility
B- — Independent Study

I’m really happy about this. I tried calculating my degree classification, but honestly, it was a bit confusing. I’m pretty sure I have a 2:1, which suits me fine. Tom reckons I might just scrape a first…that would be beyond amazing. I doubt its gonna happen, but there’s no harm in hoping. I assume we’ll get official letters from the uni at some point, hopefully they won’t take all day about that. In other uni related news, I need to pay off my library fine, or I can’t graduate. My fine is 40p and I have no fucking clue where it came from. I’ve never been late taking back a book! I’m going to barge in on Monday, waving my student card, demanding explanation. I probably will cough up the 40p, but it will be a reluctant payment. If they have a complaints/suggestions card, I will probably fill it in using ANGRY CAPITAL LETTERS.

There isn’t much else to report on…I’ve started the re-drafting process for Chronicles of Nom. Joe said he’d read over the new prologue for me, but I haven’t heard anything yet, so who knows if I’ll actually get some feedback on it. I also had a good shot at re-writing the first chapter…its not as funny, but far more detailed, and I think that’s a good thing. Its going to be a long process, but I’m looking forward to applying myself to something so creative.

RIGHT THEN. I need to package up some hair extensions that I’ve sold to an Australian girl, and check that everything’s ok at overkillhair.com. I have some really cool plans for the “business” over summer, including video tutorials and new designs, I just need to be at home to do it…’cos halls of residence are lame and don’t allow me to access the port I need to log-in. Urgh. Also have big plans for WRAW…and they will happen. Why do I have so many web projects and then never keep them updated?! Haha. I love WRAW, though. I want it to be uber-popular in the future and I think we can get it to that stage, just need to be patient.

I’ll probably be going to the pictures a lot over the next couple of weeks, seeing as there are finally some films coming out that I wanna see…I saw The Hangover not too long ago, it was excellent! Tom and I also saw Transformers 2 today. I don’t think it was as epic as the first one, but I still liked it. Those films really set the CGI-bar high. No other film has such great special effects.

A post of real substance coming soon, maybe…I’d post a preview of the new C.O.N. draft, if I thought anybody would read it.

Yesterday I spent the entire afternoon making hair extensions…I had a back log, you see. Another one of those pesky blighters. I made a few new designs for my website, and also put some more on eBay. I wish I could be bothered to promote the business, I think it’d do pretty well if I could make the emo masses aware of it. Maybe I’ll give it a try this week. ANYWAY, here’s what I spent yesterday making:

Vertical rainbow. It’s sooo pretty.

Horizontal rainbow. The picture ain’t doing it any justice.

 
Blonde & pink leopard print.

Pretty cool, yeah?! I’ve got two pairs to make for a customer in Australia, but she hasn’t paid yet. She says she’ll send the money via Paypal tomorrow, so I’ll probably put it off until then.

Tom and I went to the pictures last night, at like…half past midnight. I’d never been so late and I was pretty sure I’d fall asleep, but somehow I managed not to. We saw Night at the Museum 2, which wasn’t as good as the first one, but still quite funny. I love Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. They could make a film about celery and I’d probably find it hilarious. There was only a few other people in the pictures, clearly everyone else has better things to do at two in the morning!! Such as sleep.

I’m gonna go tidy my room a bit, read some more of The Dark Tower series (I’m on book three now, slowly but surely having my soul sucked away by Mr. King once again), and maybe watch some anime. Not an exciting day, but at least the sun’s out. That’s definitely something to celebrate.