Merry Christmas

To quote the Cure:

Dressed up to the eyes
It's a wonderful surprise
To see your shoes and your spirits rise
Throwing out your frown
And just smiling at the sound
And as sleek as a shriek
Spinning round and round
Always take a big bite
It's such a gorgeous sight
To see you eat in the middle of the night
You can never get enough
Enough of this stuff

It's Friday, I'm in love

It's Friday, I've got a long weekend. I'm in love with the idea of stripey socks and DVDs and cheese. The eating kind.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

Soos xxx

(ARYRSE: I miss you guys. Now that is cheesy)

coughing in a winter wonderland

Bah Humbuger, my darlings!

The Christmas spirit is upon us all here at Froggymen's as my immediate team all stretch out after our Christmas lunch. I clutch my side and relax; postponed a conference call because of an important "team meeting" that "ran over" which was due mainly to the fact we couldn't decide whether we wanted the bannoffee pie or creme brulee; after all it's Christmas, we're allowed to take it a little easy.

'Tis a season to be jolly and celebrate indeed: our office Christmas party was 2 weeks ago with the awesome theme of Boogie Nights - I know my cheesy sister is nodding her head in approval somewhere... Oh you would've loved it - it went the whole 51 yards with disco balls and bell bottoms everywhere. It was a fun night and an excuse for everyone to let their hair down or into a fake afro and just have a good time. And hey, everyone looks good in an afro after a couple of alcopops. It was a good night and got to boogie down with my colleagues who usually all just hide behind their computer screens in stress (hey, I'm one of them, too) - good times, definitely good times.

Since then it's been one christmas 'do after the other. Big lunches with work, dinner with the sweet flatmate and drinks with friends of friends and their friends. Soon though the big day will roll around the corner and I'll be celebrating my first ever Christmas in England. Yes, for this Christmas, I'm entertaining in my own home and will be cozying up on my couch with my dearest girlfriends. This will mean that I'm going to have to go on a mulla slaughtered turkey hunt this evening and start planning how I'm going to cook this bird. I sure hope I'll be able to find such fowl and I'm sure there's someone out there who'll do the job. Wouldn't the butcher find it comendable and a bit of a challenge, or will he shake his head at me for mixing too many rituals in one? Hmmm... I'm sure my local ASDA will find a way to cater to its good Muslim shoppers who like turkey. Why limit yourself to halal chicken or mutton (how I hate that word)? I suppose if all else fails I'll settle for a Jewish Christmas with some chinese takeout and a good movie... Now, if that isn't mixing I don't know what is...

Eid's coming up, Hannukah's near an end and Christmas has been and will be upon us for some time now... It's a nice time to celebrate, so happy holidays for everyone who likes to celebrate, and go scrooge yourselves for those who don't.

Ethiopians must laugh real hard when they pee all over our starbucks coffee beans

We got some new coffee today for the coffee machine on my floor - Starbucks Christmas Roast. Yum. Shame, I've only just perfected the microwave latte and really beginning to enjoy it. This is probably something I get from my mum, but I absolutely hate adding cold milk to hot drinks. See, in order to go around this, I would add my milk first into my tea cup and then add the tea/coffee. This still doesn't taste that great, I don't really know what it is, it's probaby something to do with the way the milk breaks down when added to hot water, I don't really know. Hence comes in dried/instant milk/creamer, which I love (CoffeeMate is my mate too!). People at work think this is strange - that I don't add cold fresh milk to my tea or coffee and insist on doing it a multitude of different ways but the one way everyone else does it. I think people at work also find this amusing. None of this bothered me until I recently ran out of CoffeeMate for my afternoon coffees and needed my caffine. Don't fret, I was only temporarily stuck until that one and only cartoon lightbulb above my head appeared with the approrpriate ring of our microwave oven. I figured it out: I started by microwaving the milk first and then adding the brewed coffee (Make sure everything is piping hot - I also cannot stand warm, let alone lukewarm, beverages. There is only one way, and that is hot-te) and ta da, I have a lat-te (almost, well, not entirely, but it's cool). Good stuff, I know. I was really proud of myself. I was drinking 3 or 4 extra cups an afternoon. Y up. But now it's over, we have the Christmas Blend. So I'll be drinking that, black. Straight up. No milk, no mates. Nada.

Oh well, from one sham to the other, I wonder what's next here at FroggyMen's.

Out of the trenches with Muse

Swivel my thumb around the dial, click the button.
Push through to the sliding doors and wait with head down.
Look up at the moving darkness through the glass, moving slower, slower: then comes the light.
Things will now come to a
stop.
I straighten myself and look forward.
Time stops, momentarily, there is a pause.
One, two, three, four... the doors open
and we surge forward.
The rush, the rush, no one stops to look,
no one dares to stop for anything.
We all swarm straight ahead -
I'm up at the front and I move just as fast as everyone around me.
Quickly down the stairs,
quickly turn that sharp right corner
and quickly down the narrow corridor.
Quickly before the mob gets to us and
quickly back up to open space.
No one thinks anymore of where to go
what steps to take next
we all move in
unison in the same direction.
twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen steps,
Turn, One, Two, Three, Four,
Pause,
Five, Pause,
Six,
Escalator.
We know what we're doing and there's no time to waste.
If you blindfolded us all
forced that poison down our throats,
no one would stop for orientation
and no one would clutch onto another for help -
no one will stumble to find their way up
and out.
Like the back of our hands
the curve of a lover's back,
we know
every contour
and every line.
The electric stairs slowly disappear and once again it's
One, Two, Three, Four, Turn,
Pause, Five, Six, Turn, Pause,
Push through on-coming human traffic.
Almost there.
Focus,
there's no other way
but out.
Electric Stairs, the long ones this time, and
up, up, up we go.
No time to stop, everyone moves up,
one impounding step after the other and we're almost there.
Your legs begin to ache at the last dozen steps or so
but you don't stop,
you never stop.
Four, Three, Two, One
and the steps begin to disappear.
The dull light of day comes to sight and you reach into your pocket
swiftly touch in and touch out
your blue sleeve to the yellow disc.
It beeps,
it opens
and without any interruptions
you're out of there.
"Together we're invincible"
Only to be back again tomorrow.

AIDS AWARENESS DAY

No wants wants to talk about it but it is a reality: Around 40 million people are living with HIV throughout the world - and that number increases every day. Ignorance and prejudice are fuelling the spread of a preventable disease and we need to spread awareness.

Wear your red ribbon and break the silence.