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It had been a long time since I was addicted to a “reality tv” show (apart from BNTM and ANTM of course). Back in Spain I used to watch quite a few (Big Brother, OT, etc) but I hadn’t watched one here in the UK until now.
I started watching the X-Factor just because of Ruth Lorenzo, the Spanish girl who made it through the auditions to the Live Shows. She was awesome, with a very powerful voice. She would have needed some coaching, but she was ready to be made into a pop star. As Louis would have said, she had the “likeability” factor, meaning that people loved her, even though she wasn’t British. I always said that she would never win because of that, though. People may like her a lot, but had she been in the final, people would have voted for their “fellow country people” first.
It doesn’t matter though that she got kicked out a couple of weeks ago. She’s built quite a big fan base and if she gets signed I predict she’s going to sell a few albums and start a successful career. But enough about Ruth.
Last night it was the final of the X-Factor. I could have gone out on the Saturday night. Instead I decided to stay glued to the sofa watching “sensationalist” TV. The three finalists were Eoghan (very cute 16-year-old from Northern Ireland – who CAN’T sing), JLS (boy band from Central London, with just ONE talented member who would have a more successful career on his own) and Alexandra Burke (the only talented singer of the lot! And we’re talking about a singing competition here!)
Well, Eoghan got kicked out first and I started to get a bit nervous, because somehow JLS are extremely popular and I thought that a final between JLS and Alexandra could be a bit dangerous. But justice has been done and Alexandra won! I had to clap when the result was announced. I was so relieved… She was the only contestant who truly deserved to win. Not even Ruth should have won, not even Diana Vickers who everybody seemed to love (but who I can’t stand… that voice -argh-, the claw -argh)
So well done Alexandra. I hope you have a very successful career!
Now I have promised myself that I’m not going to get addicted to any other television programme. It’s just not worth it! I rather do something more uselful with my time.
For the last month shops like Tesco and M&S have been trying to make us do our Christmas shopping early. They put their own Christmas decorations up before Halloween, and started selling Christmas cards and all the trimmings by early November. Obviously all the shops doing that is just a marketing campaign, an attempt to increase their sales in times of economic depression… nothing to do with the “Christmas feeling”.
“October is bit too early for Christmas, isn’t it?” I thought. But then I would go to work and Harry would play Christmas Carols all day (but, well, Harry counts the days to Christmas since May or June anyway, so what can you expect), so the “Christmas feeling” wouldn’t escape me wherever I went.
It is not yet December and I must admit that, yes, I have:
- Started buying Christmas presents
- Put the Christmas tree up
- Written most of the Christmas Cards
I think it’s because it suddenly feels colder, and yes, why not, because it seems like people can’t stop talking about the forthcoming festive season (can’t blame them, honestly, the holidays are always welcome!)
I must admit that I really like Christmas. It’s not just only the presents and amounts of food (which always help) but the “feeling” that I have been talking about. The fact that most people just feel merrier by default, the glitter, the colours, the lights…. everything is so pretty!
This year, like every year, will be going back to Spain to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family. It’s a tradition (maybe the only family tradition) that I like to follow. Christmas in Spain is always good fun. For starters, the weather is so much milder, and then we have the friendly and open attitude of Spaniards that are even louder and funnier during Christmas. And I won’t mention the food… there’s enough to say about food to fill another whole blog 
Yes, I can’t wait.
Yes, it’s been a while since the last time I wrote. I won’t try to justify myself or make up any excuses like “I’ve been busy” and all that shit, just because it’s not true! I haven’t been busy at all. Actually, I’ve never had more spare time in my hands.
For the last couple of months Jon has been working in The Point in Dublin. Oops, sorry, I shouldn’t call it “The Point” anymore. It looks like the new owners don’t give a shit about the years and years of history of the place, and have decided to call it “The O2″ (because there aren’t enough “O2s” in the world already)
So yeah, Jon has been going to Dublin for 3-4 days a week (sometimes even more) and I’ve been finding myself on my own quite often. Now, in this situation other people may have taken the opportunity to do stuff, dunno, go to the gym, go shopping, visit friends, tidy up.. so many things! But no, not me. I have just been sitting around, playing Age of Empires (again!), watching telly, surfing the net, eating pipas and doing nothing. Shame on me.
The problem is that I really DO want to be more active and do things, but I lack encouragement or people to do those things with.
I found this Social Club thing in the local paper the other day. They are called “WSIVC”, which is something like “West Surrey inter-varsity club”. I had a look on their website and they look like the kind of thing that Jon and I need. They are a social club for young professionals in our area (quite a big area, but what can you do) and they organise all kinds of events, like cinema outings, pub dinners, dancing, playing sports, and many many more things..
Joining is not expensive at all if you take into account all the things you get for your money, and I am very seriously considering giving them a go. There are already a couple of events that I want to attend, although the most interesting ones are always on the weekends, and what I am looking for is something to do during the weekdays. But I won’t complain. I will definetely try it out and see what happens.
If we find people that we connect with, then much much better. If we don’t, at least we can say we tried.
And life goes on like this.
Things I am looking forward to in the next few months:
- Russell Howard’s gig in London
- Christmas bonus
- Christmas in Spain
- Visiting family in UK after Xmas
- Jon’s birthday in January
Things I am not looking forward:
- Jon being away for work often
- Cold cold weather
- Running out of pipas before Christmas
- My own birthday in February
Now let’s see if I am in the mood to write more often…
I’ve been to the National Wedding Show in Earls Court today. It’s been a great day out with the girls (beacuse of course they boys are not the slightest interested in going to things like that) although I must admit that after 5 hours of wandering around the place, I was knackered.
I won’t say it was a waste of time, because it wasn’t. It’s a different subject, though, the fact that they weren’t selling any of the things I was interested in: shoes, flowers or mobile hairdressers. There were tons and tones of stalls for dresses, honeymoons, cakes, photographers, singers and DJs, stag and hen nights, make up and nails, jewellery and all those things that a) I already have or b) I don’t care much about.
I was really surprised about the Lack-of-Shoes situation. I saw about three different stalls that sold shoes but they only had super-mega-heels ones and only a small showcase of them. They all insist that you visit their website and buy online, but there’s not a chance in hell that I’ll buy shoes without trying them on. Wouldn’t someone about to spend a grand or more on a dress want to also have a look at matching shoes? Apparently not. So it looks like I am going to have to have another girlie day out in search of shoes…
However, I managed to get lots of ideas, for instance, for the groom and other male family members’ suit hire. It was something that I had never thought about. I always assumed that the groom and best man would be in charge of that, but we already know how men are… you have to push them a bit in the right direction Got many other ideas for stationery, favours and table decoration…
Something I must say about the event is the appaling organisation. Points I would try to improve if I worked for the organisation:
- More chairs and spaces to rest
- More toilets
- Bigger/wider aisles among the stalls
- More staff to clean up the mess in the eating areas
Earls Court is a huge place but it looks like they tend to forget to look after the customers. At the end of the day we had to pay for the tickets to get in!
I don’t think I’ll be attending any more of these wedding events. I already have the important things: venue, dress, photographer and a groom The rest I can figure out with the little help of my friends.
Next month I will have been in the UK for three years. It doesn’t seem like a long time, but it has almost been a lifetime for me. Things that I would have never imagined have happened to me in this time, and who knows what other things are awaiting for me in the near future.
I haven’t been able to get my old myspace blogs in here yet, althought it’s something that will eventually be done. I’d like all my old thoughts to be put together in just one place. I never thought I’d keep a regular blog (or a diary, basically), I just think I’m too lazy and sometimes I just don’t know how to put into words all these thoughts in my head. So now that I have more than three years of old thoughts in writing, I want to keep them.
I’ve been having a quick look at the old posts in my myspace blog. This paragraph deserves some recognition:
“Dejo atrás muchas cosas y no echaré de menos nada. Me siento mal por este hecho, pero es así. My friends gave up on me long ago, and so did my family. Weather and food are stupid things to miss, so I will find myself with me, myself, and I to reach all my expectations. I just count on ME to fulfill my dreams”
I was writing about coming to live in England, all my fears, my worries, all my expectations. I was so damn worried. It was what I had ever wanted, but it still required a huge faith leap to get all my thoughts clear in my head. I was very sure of what I wanted. I just didn’t know how to get there. The “journey” in the end wasn’t that bad. Okay, fair enough, the first month I was in shambles, then the following months weren’t as good as I thought they’d be, and then, about 6 months after arriving my life gave a 360 degree change… But that’s material for another post.
