#2012yip

[lastghosttoleave]

The Excitement of the Everyday

The Excitement of the Everyday

I both love and loathe with equal measure the idea of writing a column. That is, one without a specific brief or design to which I must adhere. Instead, I mean the kind of thing in a magazine where a person carves out an identity for themselves- the loner, the down and out, the obsessive sports fan – and then uses this framework to structure commentaries and anecdotes ad infinitum. Now, it may be…

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[japanesefoodlover]

Akasaka nigiri sushi (242/365) by allysonnona on Flickr.

[paulfrank366project]

Day 197 - Sunday, 15th July

       Fairly quiet day today, yesterday had been manic and after all of the various things which had needed to be done I finally found myself able to relax a little more today. My girlfriend and I set about clearing up the house after the party from last night. Most things had been packed away but there was a significant amount of washing up which needed to be done and I figured that my parents would appreciate it being done. I've always found tidying an oddly therapeutic exercise, even if I've not always managed to keep my own spaces tidy when they need to be. 

The move out began today, albeit slowly. My girlfriend was heading home via the flat and offered to take what she could in her car. I promptly packed up my CDs and about half of my DVDs along with the bookcase on which they had been kept for the last year. It feels like forever since I moved back here but at the same time it also doesn't feel like long at all. We'd decided a year ago that once we had both finished our respective courses (or nearly finished in my case) that we would look at moving in together.

Thankfully, finance circumstances have allowed us to do so and as such we're planning to move in proper next week once my girlfriend has finished work for the summer holidays (no guesses needed to tell that she's a teacher). The only thing which is going to be difficult to move will be my bookcase as whilst it was brought flat-packed and so therefore should be possible to disassemble, the back has been nailed in. It'll be a work of logistical genius to get it into the back of my Dad's car but it should be doable. I can't possibly face a flat without my books.

[paulfrank366project]

Day 185 - Tuesday, 3rd July

       Another Tuesday at work and today was due to a viewing of the flat which my girlfriend had been to see on Saturday. She'd heard from the letting agent yesterday with the news that we were going to be recommended as the best possible tenants. News which made me wonder what was wrong with the rest... The dust thankfully had settled at work and things were returning to normality. The air was still a little thick and frosty and there was a degree of pandering on the part of another to myself. 

The day was really quite productive and in fact it's difficult to remember a day when I actually managed to achieve quite so much in a single day. This did mean that, much like the gentleman in the picture above, I very nearly fell asleep on the train between work and my girlfriends house. I was excited about the prospect of seeing what could potentially be our new home and of meeting the landlord. All of which needed to be done whilst remaining calm and (at least in my opinion) without giving too much away. 

The flat is in a converted mental hospital which was built in the mid-19th Century and as such is in the middle of pretty much nowhere. The hospital closed about 16 years ago and a housing estate has been built in the grounds. The flat we were there to see was in the hospital itself. We arrived and met the Landlord, the current tenant was in the process of moving out and as such there was a degree of furniture left but which was being packed up and moved out and  as such the flat had a slightly strange feeling to it.

I've not actually seen any others so have little to compare it with but all I can say is that it's huge. The hospitals high-ceilings make the flat feel spacious and there's more than enough room for my bookcases in the hallway (this is very important). Although I was keen not to seem like we were rushing the decision it was difficult to contain the excitement at the potential that we could be living there soon. We got home and emailed the Landlord to this effect and now just had to wait on her response. We'd be told that we were first choice and if we replied within good time and subject to references it could well be ours.

Watch this space.

[paulfrank366project]

Day 182 - Saturday, 30th June

Goodwood again! And we had a very similar experience to yesterday with regard to our entrance and exit from the site. There's more than a few organisations who could learn an awful lot from those who organise and run Goodwood. It was more of celebrity spotting day today. Or at least spotting them as they came up the hill in their extremely fast and historic cars. My mum joined us for the day and this meant that whereas yesterday we'd had to by and large stick together it allowed my brother to go autograph hunting whilst my Dad and I stayed put to watch the hill climb. 

As I mentioned yesterday I'm not motorsport's biggest fan by any stretch of the mark. However, I do enjoy watching the F1 and was suitably excited by the site of the likes of Sterling Moss, Alain Prost, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel driving up the course in their various cars. We'd also managed to catch and Q and A with Nick Heidfeld whilst eating lunch yesterday (missed this story out on that blog) whilst searching for a place to sit and eat I spotted a small staging area which had seating and suggested we sit there. 

Shortly after we'd sat down Tony Jordan arrived to interview Nick Heidfeld. It was one of those slightly surreal experiences which you never quite come to terms with whilst it's happening. The only decent comparison I can make is the first time I saw Machine Head live. That feeling that the people up until that point had only being part of a sensory relay are now real and standing in front of you. On paper it sounds rather twee but that's an unfortunate aspect of the writing process.

I walked up to the rally stage in the later part of the day and as thrilling as it is to be several meters from F1 cars going at speed there's nothing which quite compares to rallying. It's a phenomenal sport and I always think that I should try and watch more of it. At the risk of slipping over into a rant all I'll say is that the growth of commercial television has been bad for culture. 

I was shattered when I got in and when my girlfriend got in (she'd been for a meal with a friend) I was almost asleep. It's been a fantastic two days but I'm now exhausted and could quite happily do not very much for the next 24 hours.