frog princess

"...I think all my life I practiced with my high hundred percent of intensity in every ball in the practice... That's why I think today I am faster, no? Probably now I'm not practicing with the same intensity like when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I practiced, believe me, like crazy."

( more pics )

Instead of moping about the tennis, I've decided to play with my au_bingo card:

( AU bingos )

I just made myself a delicious iced latte. Here's my recipe:

1) Make a small cup of strong coffee - I used a cafetiere
2) Fill a tall glass 2/3 full of ice
3) Pour the coffee over the ice
4) Fill the glass with milk or soy/rice/other milk
5) Enjoy your nummy cool drink.

For fans of Uncle Toni Nadal - ( I found this book today )

I got Vilnius postcards from daegaer and new_kate and puddingcat - thanks! Both of them feature a trio of creepy ladies that seem to loom over the town... Sculptures of the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre! I found the exact postcard online, here.

Vilnius sounds amazing. Waaaaant.

In other news, I'm desperately trying to pack a light capsule wardrobe that will take me through five days of potential rain, wind and searing heat. I have so far: two pairs of leggings, three tops and a dress but now I'm stuck on outerwear and shoes v sandals.

If anyone is interested morebliss syndicated my tumblr for lj: Swiss Navy! Except she called it 'Lounicorn' for reasons best known to herself. <3

If you're wondering, I update it with about three or four new pictures or quotes a day, and obvsly it's mostly about Rafa and Roger. But sometimes it has fluffy animals too!

Rafa won, making history and breaking records everywhere and generally being wonderful. He's amazing. It was a funny old match though. I was torn between wanting them both to win, so I was really sorry for Rog at the end.

It was very clear they were both very keyed up about playing each other again, and that was very thrilling to see! The tennis was sometimes brilliant and sometimes really not brilliant at all. I haven't got a whole lot else to say about it at the moment, except that I love this comment from Rafa:

"At times we did play well but I think we know each other so much that we are only focusing on how to make each other play worse."

Roger sat firmly in his chair during Rafa's pre match routine. Rafa sneaked glances at him and didn't get up, twitching his towel over his knees. Roger just kept on sitting there-- I'm not even sure what he was doing. This sitting down stalemate went on for ages until I seriously thought the umpire would have to do more than politely clear his throat at them.

On the podium afterwards, Rafa told Roger: 'You're amazing.'

Ion Tiriac gave a very boring speech. The stage wasn't big enough for everyone crammed on it, so Rafa and Roger were crammed up on one side looking like awkward school kids in assembly, with Roger's left foot actually half hanging off the edge of the platform.

They both looked really pretty. They were awarded identical matching silver tea tray awards.

Rafa lay face down on the court and kissed it at the end of the match. I think this is one of my single favourite moments.

Roger missed the ball with his racquet on match point, about which I'm still having massive contact embarrassment.

The stadium sound people played 'Simply the Best' by Tina Turner for Rafa at the end. Oh, lol.

( Now, some pictures )

I really don't want to be slashing David Cameron and Nick Clegg, but Radio 4 is making it hard for me with all its talk of private meetings and Nick Clegg having a lot to swallow.

No, brain, nooo!

Every time I click on to the tennis this afternoon see what's happening it stimulates some variation on the cry: 'Oh for fuck's sake!' Roger has managed to finally win the first set against Arnaud Clement though.

That, combined with Gardener's Question Time, managed to temporarily make me forget about the general election - amazing.

Anyway, it's Friday, not that it makes a ton of difference to my life except as a license to eat pizza. Have some pictures of Rafa looking adorable and of Roger's magnificent curls. Because they're worth it!

( imagery )

I made bircher muesli yoghurt this morning. Omg, divine! My tummy likes it.

I used a cup of oats, soaked them in a small amount of milk for an hour, then added a few dollops of strawberry yoghurt until it seemed a good texture. Gordon Ramsey has a fancier version where you soak the oats in apple juice and a bit of lemon for increased tarteness, here. Sophie Dahl's recipe looks a bit too lemony for me, and it requires stirring with a wooden spoon.

Two things about today:

Thing one: just bought a new (to us) flat screen Sony Bravia from ebay. I'm still not used to making such grown up purchases, even though I'm of the sort of age where this should not feel like a big deal. Our TV at home decided to go purple and green for a day or so. No one knows why, so it's probably time to get a new (but not that new) one.

Thing two - booked my first ever (official) driving lessons, so another grown up thing happening right on the heels of the previous one. I start in a week. I've gone from being actively afraid of driving to not even wanting to wait a week to start. The brain is an odd thing.

This post will jump around a bit because it's been nearly a month since I last posted - it feels like great eons. I've mostly been working on the empire of bags-- working endlessly it seems-- and watching the tennis taking place firstly in the California desert and then in Miami (where emungere has been, seeing live Fedal. Well, nearly.)

We also had a trip down to Brighton for my friends' civil partnership ceremony, which was great and included people singing Jaques Brel at the reception! While he might not write the cheeriest songs, they do pack a certain punch when bellowed from the stage of a small bar. There were also some of the best chocolate brownies I've ever tasted - so sticky that it seemed like they'd bee dipped in molasses. Diversions included Victorian parlour games and a fake seance that mostly seemed to involve chanting 'oogabooga!' The World Horror Convention was taking place at the same time, with Neil Gaiman as surprise guest I later discovered! But neither of us felt justified in shelling out all that cash for tickets so we didn't go.

I wore an gorgeous dress that I got from ebay - it's a copy of a copy of a 1950s design from Vivien of Holloway. I have all consuming lust for all their dresses.

The day after, I took my bags and things down to the Oxford Literary Festival craft market. It was a bit of an odd do, not very well advertised and some seriously grumpy sellers... but I didn't care because my stuff sold really well! We spent a lot of time sitting in deckchairs at our stall trying to recognise the famous authors. I think I saw Germaine Greer and someone else who we were sure was on the Late Review. Strangely, famous authors are not as easy to recognise as you'd think.
-
I'm still writing my help_haiti story. I'm so sorry, amai_kaminari and lechymonk. I'm usually pretty good at getting things done for deadlines and I can't remember ever being this tardy with a fic. It's taken a while to get my head around writing Hakkai and Gojyo again, and figuring out what I wanted to say about them. They didn't want to comply for a long time, and were recalcitrant, and I've been forced to begin the story by pretending it's not a story at all, just a description of them waking up, brushing their teeth, having breakfast, going shopping. Along the way, I have sneaked in some plot and it seems to have worked. I'll be in touch soon with the finished story.

scribblemoose, it was really good to chat with you the other night, and I'm glad we did. *hugs*

I tried to tidy up my flist the other day, mostly removing people who don't post anymore, or who post in a language I can't read. If someone is surprised I've defriended them it's almost definitely because I made a mistake with my ticky boxes, so please let me know if that's the case.

I liked the new Dr Who a lot - I thought I'd really not enjoy Matt Smith's performance, based on the things my inner curmudgeon was saying but I really enjoyed it. Take that inner curmudgeon!

Oh the tennis. They are still so pretty, rich and super fit and kind of gay. The clay season is getting underway on Monday in Monte Carlo so I'm going to upping my posting levels to celebrate sweaty dudes covered in crushed brick dust. buckle_berry and I have been arranging our Wimbers trip, which has cheered me up hugely, and hopefully niennah will be coming down too.

the_moonmoth left a comment on a story I wrote in 2003. I looked at the date and felt strange. Seven rich and busy years of fandoms and writing have gone by since then, but I still remember Good Omens fandom with great fondness. It was where I met daegaer, after all. Although, the_moonmoth I, um, just deleted your comment by accident while futzing around in my inbox. /o\ Sorry.

Finally, there are tadpoles! One week old and creepy as hell.

( writhing tadpoles )

A man known as a 'Gentleman to the Pope' is embroiled in a gay prostitution scandal in the Vatican. He had sex with a rugby player and a male model. I wonder if it's in any way linked to the calendar of sexy Vatican priests?

Oh I hope so.

Gah, it's one of those days where I just feel like I'm dropping, breaking, trampling and otherwise ruining everything in the house in a mad rush to get everything done on time. Last week I swallowed the end of a needle - that's okay, right? It was only a tiny short bit.

daegaer, [Unknown site tag]new_kate and tarteaucitron came over at the weekend for my birthday party. We lounged around, drank wine, made cakes and watched ice skating and 'The Saint'.  They make the most wonderful houseguests, let me add. Come back! Never leave!  

I sent out invites labelling my party a 'cake and fizz' one. Good move, because guess what everyone bought me? Yeah! It was a totally rockin' night. I remember some really bad singing towards the end of the night, so I'm very sorry to anyone who had to listen.

Here's that food meme, via telophase

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

( what i ate )