Le weekend
May. 28th, 2006 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trixtahWell, I had a delightful weekend. Bought some new jeans, very exciting. Although they only seem to do black jeans with the stovepipe legs these days. Since I'm not a boy with hips narrower than my waist, I had to forgo them. Still, the kind of not-quite-black bootcut boys' jeans I ended up getting are pretty comfy. I just have to get 6 inches of excess trimmed off the bottom. *sigh*
I also bought some foam to stick under my fucking useless futon mattress. If you're after a good-quality, 5-layer futon (wool/cotton/foam/cotton/wool), do not go to Futons Express in Canberra (no linkie for them). The super-duper expensive "sumo" mattress hasn't even lasted a year - I can feel the slats when I lie on my side. And yes, I turn it every week and give it a thump.
Actually, I just looked at their site, and they do have a diagram of the 8" sumo mattress. There is only 2 inches of foam (which must be the crappiest kind), "4 layers" of cotton, and what looks like a miniscule layer of wool (an inch in total)? I didn't see that diagram before I bought it, or else I wouldn't have got it. Serves me right for not asking at the time.
When I got it, I was thinking of a certain brand of futons they sell in NZ, where the primo 6" mattress has a 2" coco fibre core, surrounded by an inch of latex on each side, and then an inch of wool for the final layers. Maybe I should just get another bed - and I've found a new shop in Canberra that appears to do decent bases, with rubber mounts for the slats - but the only decent mattress manufacturer here appears to be in Melbourne. I'll try the shop in Sydney next time I'm up, but they look as dodgy as the Futons Express ones.
And you can no doubt tell what subject is on my mind right now. Ah well, I had a nice evening with the CDL, featuring tea at Cafe Essen, followed by yummy cocktails at the Hippo Bar (the Ling Ling, Northern Lights and Being Civil are recommended). The waitress at Essen was a delight, complimenting me on my shirt (which is a funky black boy's shirt with a cool textured fabric that I must get altered to fit my anatomy). She then complimented the CDL on her lovely flowing hair, and then announced to the world at large that we both looked great together. Very sweet, she was. Must have been picking up on the mutual admiration society we were quietly having. Cocktails were fab, although eventually our comfy spot was sadly colonised by a couple of young women just as we were getting to the giggly and flirty part. Still, we recovered nicely chez moi, and had a fantastic evening featuring much fun and some delightful experimentation. [TMI: It now appears I have to be grateful to my mother for providing me with strong and sturdy hands, despite their relative non-aestheticness. Thanks mum!] Yum. Yay. All despite the fact I was having the Cramps from Hell, which turned out to be annoyingly catching. Thank god for Neurofen, I say.
And I promise that we will achieve a decent 8 hours sleep next time, even if it means hitting the sack before nine! Although having a callout from work at 6am was not on my agenda. It didn't even turn out to be something I can fix - no pay for that one, alas.
Today, I drove around some obscure country towns - I felt like a scenic drive - and went to see X-Men, which wasn't quite as fun as I was hoping it to be. The ending was frankly stupid - I don't know how they got from the chaos of the 5 minutes before to all the lovely hearts and flowers at the end. What was stuck in as "light relief" was irritating, and Vinnie Jones should hold his fucking head in a bucket of water (or perhaps concrete would be better) for at least the next decade or so. There was maybe 15 minutes' dialogue in the whole thing? No character development to speak of, except Jean's (and "development" is kind of relative, here). Although I laughed at the part with the Golden Gate Bridge. Hm, entertaining, but I liked the last one better.
Also, the person the row behind me who ate her fucking popcorn with her mouth wide open throughout the entire movie - one kernel every 20 seconds, audible in the noisy parts, like a fucking overgrown rodent nibbling celery stalks - should be forced to eat it through her nose next time. God, it was irritating, and something I couldn't tune out. She'd eat faster in the exciting bits. And in the few times there was dialogue, she would punctuate it with her fucking crunchcrunchcrunch. Oh, and to all the people who laughed uproariously at the promo for the sexist retro bullshit that's Adam Sandler's latest vehicle (Click)? You're all fuckwits. So there.
But, you know, I had a great weekend.
I also bought some foam to stick under my fucking useless futon mattress. If you're after a good-quality, 5-layer futon (wool/cotton/foam/cotton/wool), do not go to Futons Express in Canberra (no linkie for them). The super-duper expensive "sumo" mattress hasn't even lasted a year - I can feel the slats when I lie on my side. And yes, I turn it every week and give it a thump.
Actually, I just looked at their site, and they do have a diagram of the 8" sumo mattress. There is only 2 inches of foam (which must be the crappiest kind), "4 layers" of cotton, and what looks like a miniscule layer of wool (an inch in total)? I didn't see that diagram before I bought it, or else I wouldn't have got it. Serves me right for not asking at the time.
When I got it, I was thinking of a certain brand of futons they sell in NZ, where the primo 6" mattress has a 2" coco fibre core, surrounded by an inch of latex on each side, and then an inch of wool for the final layers. Maybe I should just get another bed - and I've found a new shop in Canberra that appears to do decent bases, with rubber mounts for the slats - but the only decent mattress manufacturer here appears to be in Melbourne. I'll try the shop in Sydney next time I'm up, but they look as dodgy as the Futons Express ones.
And you can no doubt tell what subject is on my mind right now. Ah well, I had a nice evening with the CDL, featuring tea at Cafe Essen, followed by yummy cocktails at the Hippo Bar (the Ling Ling, Northern Lights and Being Civil are recommended). The waitress at Essen was a delight, complimenting me on my shirt (which is a funky black boy's shirt with a cool textured fabric that I must get altered to fit my anatomy). She then complimented the CDL on her lovely flowing hair, and then announced to the world at large that we both looked great together. Very sweet, she was. Must have been picking up on the mutual admiration society we were quietly having. Cocktails were fab, although eventually our comfy spot was sadly colonised by a couple of young women just as we were getting to the giggly and flirty part. Still, we recovered nicely chez moi, and had a fantastic evening featuring much fun and some delightful experimentation. [TMI: It now appears I have to be grateful to my mother for providing me with strong and sturdy hands, despite their relative non-aestheticness. Thanks mum!] Yum. Yay. All despite the fact I was having the Cramps from Hell, which turned out to be annoyingly catching. Thank god for Neurofen, I say.
And I promise that we will achieve a decent 8 hours sleep next time, even if it means hitting the sack before nine! Although having a callout from work at 6am was not on my agenda. It didn't even turn out to be something I can fix - no pay for that one, alas.
Today, I drove around some obscure country towns - I felt like a scenic drive - and went to see X-Men, which wasn't quite as fun as I was hoping it to be. The ending was frankly stupid - I don't know how they got from the chaos of the 5 minutes before to all the lovely hearts and flowers at the end. What was stuck in as "light relief" was irritating, and Vinnie Jones should hold his fucking head in a bucket of water (or perhaps concrete would be better) for at least the next decade or so. There was maybe 15 minutes' dialogue in the whole thing? No character development to speak of, except Jean's (and "development" is kind of relative, here). Although I laughed at the part with the Golden Gate Bridge. Hm, entertaining, but I liked the last one better.
Also, the person the row behind me who ate her fucking popcorn with her mouth wide open throughout the entire movie - one kernel every 20 seconds, audible in the noisy parts, like a fucking overgrown rodent nibbling celery stalks - should be forced to eat it through her nose next time. God, it was irritating, and something I couldn't tune out. She'd eat faster in the exciting bits. And in the few times there was dialogue, she would punctuate it with her fucking crunchcrunchcrunch. Oh, and to all the people who laughed uproariously at the promo for the sexist retro bullshit that's Adam Sandler's latest vehicle (Click)? You're all fuckwits. So there.
But, you know, I had a great weekend.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 11:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 11:30 am (UTC)Thanks for the reminder. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 11:47 am (UTC)There are Lowes (http://www.lowes.com.au/) stores in Woden, Tuggeranong and Belconnen. Of course, that involves braving the horrors of the Belconnen Mall or the Tuggeranong Hyperdome. Perhaps Sydney would be easier ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 11:52 am (UTC)Oh well, now I know, I can get some more jeans!!1!
Thank you. :-)
*more self-slapping*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 12:03 pm (UTC)What was even worse was that I arrived early to the movie, and part of the "pre-show" entertainment was a special about the making of that movie. I really loved the part where the director *explains* the plot and the very deep "lessons" in the movie. If you need anything from that film explained to you, then you are very truly in the movie's target demographic.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 12:09 pm (UTC)And I'm pissed off I missed the end of the X-men credits, because I ran away from the movie theatre before I choked the popcorn-rodent-chick with her jumbo bucket. Double gah! I'll have to wait for the DVD (since I didn't like it well enough to pay another $15 for).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 07:01 pm (UTC)$15 AUD = $11.24 USD.
Hmm. That's a bit steep. I normally pay about $9 USD ($11.87 AUD).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 06:54 pm (UTC)I've never had good luck with futons. I didn't know their construction could be so...involved.
Yes, it does help to have very strong hands that never get tired. ;-)
Forgive my ignorance. What is "CDL"? Civil Disobedience Lacky? Cunning Discourse Linguistics? Chemically Dependent Legislation? :-P
I tend to be rather confrontational when it comes to noise in a theater. I don't mind turning around and asking people to shut up. Or telling them, as the case may be.
I haven't seen the movie, but I was told the ending was pure cheese.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-29 12:43 am (UTC)Yeah, futons can be complicated. I've certainly done my research over the years, so it's a shame I didn't make proper use of it in this instance. C'est la vie.
As for the CDL, "Civil Disobedience Lackey" could be pretty appropriate, actually. :-) Crazy Dog Lady is the real derivation, though. Hee!
At movies, when it comes to people talking throughout, I don't have any hesitation with telling them to shut the hell up. Politely, at first. If someone has abominable eating habits, though, telling them that is never productive, in my experience. Obviously, they think their eating method is fine, if they do it that way.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-29 07:02 am (UTC)Which, I hasten to point out, is a little piece of self-mockery that pre-dates
Crazy Dog Ladies generally know they are crazy dog ladies, and take a perverse pride in it. To whit, a show acquaintance who said "hey, there's something wrong with this tea!" and on being queried as to the problem said "there isn't a dog hair in it". This is the kind of thing we find amusing, although even I draw the line at dustpan and brush bed making.
All that said, there is definitely an element in there of "smile when you say that". Coming from a non-dog friendly person, it would not be a welcome appellation.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-28 10:10 pm (UTC)Once I realised how much time I spend in bed, I became much more inclined to pick the best of what I could find - bedclothing included. I've modified that slightly since getting dogs (if you can't machine wash it, forget it) but it's still my basic philosophy.
As to popcorn rodent, you have my sympathy. Euw. Yay on the great weekend tho' ;-)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-29 12:31 am (UTC)Yes, I've managed to avoid the truly dire futons since those early student days, and proper 5-layer futons (although I suppose one really can't call them "futons", since they're not all cotton or designed to be rolled up) have suited me well in general. I did think that the one I bought here would be the kind I was familiar with, and be a good compromise between expense and comfort. Well, again, stupid me for not thoroughly checking, although my brain was in a bit of a state of shock when bed-buying became necessary.
I have a big aversion to sprung mattresses and box bases or sprung divans. I like fairly firm beds, but with sufficient give in the right places. These (http://www.designmobel.co.nz/matisse.html) mattresses are excellent (I was going to buy one when I was in Wellington) and they make great bases with a fantastic slat system (and Captain Snooze sell 'em here in Oz). If I was wanting to be really decadent, I'd get one of these (http://www.slumberland.co.uk/products/memory/memorysealsupreme.aspx) mattresses with a good slat base.
It's interesting with my housing headspace at the moment. I'm in a state of wondering just how "temporarily" I'm here. Do I start giving into my nesting impulses, find a decent place to live, and start to accumulate the standard of furniture I want? Or do I continue to live in such a way that I can move countries with four weeks' notice? And live with crap furniture because I don't care if I have to ditch it. Or find a compromise option? Buy the decent stuff, and just suck up the expense of shipping it back.
Hum.