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ravenI went out today with Hannah (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
purplerainbow), Emily (snowdrop24, and Clare (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
osiris13). Despite some unpleasantness in the morning involving my mother and a truckload of revision, I managed to get out of the house and on to the right train without any hysteria.
I like the train ride into Liverpool from here - it's a natural progression from a very rural area, which then transforms into the land owned by the Ministry of Defence, which becomes semi-urban (Crosby) and then industrial (the docks) which finally becomes the centre of a big city (Moorfields). I may be alone in this, but I tend to see living metaphors wherever I look nowadays - just before Bank Hall Station, I saw a flock of birds fly up from around the railway line, across the station, over the factories/corn silos, and out to sea. I found it an inexplicably symbolic moment.
I was on time at Central. Hannah had un petit cadeau for me - the burnt CD I asked for, which has the best track list ever. I'd never heard Konstantine or Suicide is Painless on CD before. The first thing they did was give me two cookies, and the first thing we did together was go to Quiggins to help Hannah spend her birthday money. I had my £250, but I didn't buy anything. It was quite, quite depressing. I nearly bought baggy pinkish-blue denim jeans, with long tattered fringes, but there weren't any in my size. Huh.
Hannah bought anything purple. She got the purple cords she wanted, also a slogan top like one I've got, and a purple jacket-type thing. Em was looking at a rainbow patch, and I said, "Gay pride!" and had to explain myself. It's bent. Em bough black marbled-pattern-type jeans, and Clare got a chain with pendant, with the Eye of Ra on it. I think she should scan in the pendant and make an icon of it, like I did with my pentacle. I don't really know why I own a pentacle, if you ignore the fact I think it's pretty.
We spend an hour or so in Waterstones' café, without being thrown out. I'd taken Hannah and bought a sandwich - one of those sandwiches - and then when we got to Waterstones Hannah's brilliant idea was to pace up and down the café - "and look intimidating!" - until someone got up to go. We'd paced up and down about seven times, and I was starting to think we needed a Plan B, when an old guy came up to us and said we could have his table, they were just going. I think Hannah was right when she said, "There are still nice people left in the world."
A drawback was having to eat a pizza sub sandwich in close proximity to a die-hard vegetarian, who wanted to know could I be more messy and could I stop being a carnivore. I refused to be called a carnivore, but I did stop throwing lettuce about. Lettuce is all right in small quantities, I think - it's much overrrated as a healthy-eating staple.
I don't know how we managed to spend an hour sitting there, talking. I ordered a mocha but it was somewhat revolting - I like the Starbucks ones, particularly as they always put whipped cream on and forget to charge for it. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - so long as it was sitting on the table half-drunk, they couldn't throw us out.
I said I'd be home by dark. I wasn't, but my family didn't seem to miss me all that much. They have now gone food shopping, and I've decided I want to revise, seeing as I don't have much time and I hardly ever get any peace and quiet anyway. My mother has promised to get me some strawberry laces - I live on them while revising. They're just fun to tie into knots and eat. There are few foods with that kind of entertainment value.
purplerainbow), Emily (snowdrop24, and Clare (osiris13). Despite some unpleasantness in the morning involving my mother and a truckload of revision, I managed to get out of the house and on to the right train without any hysteria.I like the train ride into Liverpool from here - it's a natural progression from a very rural area, which then transforms into the land owned by the Ministry of Defence, which becomes semi-urban (Crosby) and then industrial (the docks) which finally becomes the centre of a big city (Moorfields). I may be alone in this, but I tend to see living metaphors wherever I look nowadays - just before Bank Hall Station, I saw a flock of birds fly up from around the railway line, across the station, over the factories/corn silos, and out to sea. I found it an inexplicably symbolic moment.
I was on time at Central. Hannah had un petit cadeau for me - the burnt CD I asked for, which has the best track list ever. I'd never heard Konstantine or Suicide is Painless on CD before. The first thing they did was give me two cookies, and the first thing we did together was go to Quiggins to help Hannah spend her birthday money. I had my £250, but I didn't buy anything. It was quite, quite depressing. I nearly bought baggy pinkish-blue denim jeans, with long tattered fringes, but there weren't any in my size. Huh.
Hannah bought anything purple. She got the purple cords she wanted, also a slogan top like one I've got, and a purple jacket-type thing. Em was looking at a rainbow patch, and I said, "Gay pride!" and had to explain myself. It's bent. Em bough black marbled-pattern-type jeans, and Clare got a chain with pendant, with the Eye of Ra on it. I think she should scan in the pendant and make an icon of it, like I did with my pentacle. I don't really know why I own a pentacle, if you ignore the fact I think it's pretty.
We spend an hour or so in Waterstones' café, without being thrown out. I'd taken Hannah and bought a sandwich - one of those sandwiches - and then when we got to Waterstones Hannah's brilliant idea was to pace up and down the café - "and look intimidating!" - until someone got up to go. We'd paced up and down about seven times, and I was starting to think we needed a Plan B, when an old guy came up to us and said we could have his table, they were just going. I think Hannah was right when she said, "There are still nice people left in the world."
A drawback was having to eat a pizza sub sandwich in close proximity to a die-hard vegetarian, who wanted to know could I be more messy and could I stop being a carnivore. I refused to be called a carnivore, but I did stop throwing lettuce about. Lettuce is all right in small quantities, I think - it's much overrrated as a healthy-eating staple.
I don't know how we managed to spend an hour sitting there, talking. I ordered a mocha but it was somewhat revolting - I like the Starbucks ones, particularly as they always put whipped cream on and forget to charge for it. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - so long as it was sitting on the table half-drunk, they couldn't throw us out.
I said I'd be home by dark. I wasn't, but my family didn't seem to miss me all that much. They have now gone food shopping, and I've decided I want to revise, seeing as I don't have much time and I hardly ever get any peace and quiet anyway. My mother has promised to get me some strawberry laces - I live on them while revising. They're just fun to tie into knots and eat. There are few foods with that kind of entertainment value.
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no subject
on 2002-11-30 02:38 pm (UTC)Am half tipsy, but still want to say hi.
It's Tipsy Kitten, Tipsy Purple Person, and sober/tipsy osiris. Ooops, Kitten just fell over.
Nevermind.
Liked the entry.
Twas good.
shut up emily. I don't want to put apohtrophies in twas.
Oh, th4e screen won't keep still.
Hope you are happy.
Stay happy.
*keep young and beautiful...*
we love you muchily, and we miss you.
will you still love me in the morning?
and us. incliding Kitten. capital K.
You know you're right.
Re:
on 2002-11-30 03:01 pm (UTC)Am glad you liked the entry.
I love you all as much as ever.
The Kitten is tipsy again... *sigh*
Miss you too.
I will never bother you.
no subject
on 2002-12-02 07:02 pm (UTC)That's why I got my first pentacle; the design was pretty and it seemed like a fun thing to wear. Of course now I have a reason to wear it :) Mine is a simple copper affair, about the size of an American penny.
A drawback was having to eat a pizza sub sandwich in close proximity to a die-hard vegetarian, who wanted to know could I be more messy and could I stop being a carnivore
*laughs* What a picture this presented to my mind's eye! Most of my veggie friends know better than to broach that subject with me by now; in return, I endeavor not to tear too enthusiastically into my meat and I order the meat fully cooked instead of nearly raw. Bah, they always put too much lettuce on the sandwiches; I like just enough for flavor but most places glop it on.
I like the Starbucks ones, particularly as they always put whipped cream on and forget to charge for it. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise - so long as it was sitting on the table half-drunk, they couldn't throw us out.
I enjoy Starbucks products too; at least they're of high quality and you know you get what you're paying for (good food AND good service). Your restaurants over there have a time limit for staying in them? We don't do that over here....you can sit and talk for hours if you want to.
I thoroughly enjoyed your account of the shopping trip; it's been a while since I went on a major mall binge....
Re:
on 2002-12-03 09:28 am (UTC)And then there's the vegetarians - well, I didn't transcript the whole of that conversation. I was a little annoyed because I don't eat red meat - the sandwich had chicken in it - and so when she said, "Could you be more messy?" I replied "Could you be more anal?" and got a few odd looks.
And then there's the whole staying-in-restaurant thing - I don't know if you already know this but Waterstones isn't a cafe, it's a bookshop. It has a cafe inside it, and we tend to spend hours in there. However, it's busy, and to date we've been thrown out four times for taking up a table when there's people waiting!
And lastly... I'm glad you liked reading this. But we don't have malls!
Well, we do - there's one main one we go to in Manchester, fifty miles from here. When we go shopping it's in Liverpool, which is a very old city with shops to match. Quiggins, for example, has grown rather than been built - you can buy things there you can't buy anywhere else.
(They're closing it, but that's another story...)
no subject
on 2002-12-04 05:21 am (UTC)That's still fairly unusual; in our bookshop/cafes the tables are first come, first served and you can stay as long as you want. Even the upscale bookshop/cafes are like this. It must be a cultural business difference, then.
But we don't have malls
A mall crawl was the best American comparison I could come up with. Unfortunately, that seems to be the default manner in which shops are organized over here. I would much rather browse shops like what you've described. That's why I tend to frequent our Five Points area. Five Points is the old historical district and has a lot of mom and pop eateries and little shops where you can buy unusual things.