Thursday 30 April 2009

BEDA the Last: Lookin' Back!

Hello, my lovers!

God, this is sad, isn't it? I'm genuinely tearing up. I had planned something epic, for this last post. #BEDA the Musical, maybe? It needs to happen!

The truth is, though, that like a lot of my fellow bloggers, I've run out of things to write about. If this were a Tv series, this would be the obligatory compilation episode, complete with a slow-mo montage, Barry Manilow, and italic writing. I could use screen shots and PowerPoint, but I just can't be bothered. It's hardly epic, and I only have half an hour.

Instead, I will link and discuss my three favourite moments, my three favourite blog posts by other people, and then summarise my #BEDA experience in a Scrubs/One Tree Hill kind of style.

There was the 'Oh My Eagle' post, where I predicted the rise of speed-paedophilia, and apparently pledged my support to all perverts. I'm not often fond of my writing or my futile attempts at humour, but I am a little proud of this post.

There was the time I almost failed! Oh, how we laughed! (Imagine this segment in the aforementioned montage stylee - it'll make it just a little less arrogant..) All credit must go to Casey for helping me not fail..

And there was the time when I went mad on UrbanDictionary. This is another one of those rare moments when I actually enjoyed reading back what I'd written, and was also when I started using asterisks!*

So that's that bit done, now the less egotistical segment!

I really enjoy dozzzier's style of writing. It's witty, informative, and is really a pleasure to read. At times, it reads like a professional journalist, particularly her account of the #amazonfail business, which I linked to in my post about it. This post is probably my favourite, though. I love how it just shows a mundane, uneventful day, and really brings it to life!

I know I said that I wouldn't link anymore posts from my blog but this one wasn't by me. It was by my girlfriend, Amy, who was my first guest blogger, and I really do think it's brilliant. I know I'm terribly biased, but I think that considering she'd not even heard of blogging before she found herself lumbered with me, she took to it so naturally (of course, being super nice to me always helps! :P). I'd love to see more!

One of the people whose blogs I was introduced to by #BEDA (when I will stop using the hashtag, God only knows..) was Valerie's. And it's actually the first post I read of hers that I'm linking to now. All of her posts are brilliant, but this one just stood out for the sheer poetry of it (a poetry that I ruined with an idiotic comment). Enjoy.

Well that's it from me and #BEDA. I'll miss it, I really will. It gave me such a wonderful chance to feel part of a huge blogging community as well as showing me blogs I probably wouldn't have ever seen, and bringing me closer to some of the many people I speak to online each day.

In a speech straight out of the Oscars, I'd like to thank everyone that has read my inane updates each day, both of my guest bloggers, and everyone who has commented, rated, linked, and given me ideas. You are all amazing.

Thank you, and goodnight!

xo
gb

*Made you look! (Did you think I wouldn't?)

Wednesday 29 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Ninth: Attachment Issues

Salutations!

I have fifty minutes, and because of last nights idiocy, so much to tell you!

Firstly, let us deal with the title. Attachment issues - I has them. My job at the hospital, for any of you that don't know, involves taking food and drink to the patients and their families. I basically do the job of a waiter (and a bus-boy, dish-washer, sou chef, and medical orderly - it's actually really fun!), but in a hospital. Because some patients are there for a while, it's pretty natural for you to build up a little rapport with them, and to look forward to taking some of their orders.

Over the last couple of shifts I did, I built up a relationship with one of the elderly ladies there, who had spent her life savings to come in, to have a series of operations on various ailments. She was really so lovely, and wonderfully eccentric, and I quickly became her favourite, and I really used to enjoy going in to take her odd orders.

Anyway, after my little breakdown last night, my Mom pulled some strings with my boss (my Mom works there too, how'd you think I got the job?! I'm trained for nothing!), and got me tomorrow off, and although I'm really very relieved, I really will miss that quirky lady. I've given my Mom instructions to make sure she pays her close attention, and to make sure she gets her marmalade sandwiches at 3:00!

Also, on the attachment issues, front, I'm having real problems coping with the end of #BEDA. I know (I'm hoping, anyway) that the readers and friendships that I've gained as a result of it will stay, but I'm really going to miss it. It feels more like a conversation that it does a series of unrelated posts, and I'll miss the feeling of community that it gave me. 

I've decided I'm gonna post more regularly; I'm aiming for at least twice weekly updates, and I'm considering celebrating the mistake the FHM 2009 calendar (it was a present.. :P) made this year, and blog on Friday the 31st April as well.

This brings me to my next point. Inspired partly by a promise I made to Amy recently, I've decided to start (or at least make one and get so freaked out by the sound of my voice that I bury my mic and give it up for good) recording a podcast. 
Now, I say 'podcast', it wouldn't be one, as such. It would really be more of a recorded and extended version of this blog, uploaded onto something like RapidShare,  free for you lot to download if you fancy.

I understand that this is quite an arrogant decision. Surely my blog is enough, without having to clog up the internet with my semi-coherent mumblings.. Well firstly, I have very good diction, thank you very much, and secondly, well fuck it. Why not? There is something about spoken word that a written blog can never convey (accents, stresses, inflections for instance). I'd love to start up a comedy show like VLR, or something like DFTBA Radio, and if I could find someone to do it with, I get straight onto it (any offers, btw - Let me know!). But I'd still go ahead with this anyway. 

I would like to know your opinion, though. I'm not that self-assured. Lemme know in comments.

Love and ham sandwiches!*

xo
gb

*Mustard optional; Available on White or Wholemeal bread.

Also, Jack Conte is brilliant. Love him.

Tuesday 28 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Eighth: Suprise Work Sucks Ass

Gooday, Sunshine!

So today really sucked.

It started off with my Dad waking me up, to tell me that I'm working today and tomorrow. Apparently the hospital is hideously busy, and horrendously understaffed, so yours truly was dragged in to help out. So the initial yayness of work (and therefore monies) was almost immediately outweighed by the potential of a sucky day.

But still, you'll remember me saying that I really enjoyed work last time, so I made my way in, cautiously optimistic, and to a degree, I was right to be. There was a new face working there, Alistair, who's just about a year older than me, and me and him got on well, and for a busy day, the work panned out nice and evenly without any big rushes. However, I was still shattered from the lack of sleep (I fell asleep at about 5:00am last night), and by about 3:00pm, with two hours to go, I wanted to go home.

Overall, it was tiring, boring, but okay. But then I realised that I was going to have to do the same thing tomorrow, and the day after, when I had so much planned for this week, and I began to flag. This, partnered with a severe lack of food, lack of sympathy from every that's ever worked ever, and a lack of anything on iPlayer to cheer me up, and I don't want to wake up tomorrow, let alone go work with the dying.

So you'll forgive me if this post is shit.

I need a hug.. Big time.

xox
gb

(Disclaimer: I'm not claiming to have the market cornered as far as LifeSuck goes, or as far as shitty days go. I know that some people are going through far worse than this right now, and my heart goes right out to them. You should totally give them hugs first. I'm just feeling really low, and I can't be assed to fake a smile for this thing tonight. Sorry..) 

EDIT: So I'm feeling better, now. One of my biggest faults is that I have a tendancy to overthink things, and crippling self-confidence. Hence, one of the most depressing blog posts since I started this thing.. But I just read a little post that made me realise that things will get better, and then I made chocolate ReadyBrek, hot chocolate, and started watching Friends.

As long as I breathe deep, and think shallow, I think I'm good!
:]

xo
gb

Monday 27 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Seventh:
Imagining People Complexly is Hard!

Hello Beard Racers!

Get the joke? Do you? Well congratulations on having read at least two of my blogs!

So recently I've been reading some of Alex Days older diaryland entries. (One of these days I will post a blog where I don't mention either him or John Green, and it's going to be epic.) They're all very personal, intimate, and at times, quite emotional, so I wasn't all together comfortable reading them at first. He has, however, recently said that he intends to publish them as a book in the future, so I'm feeling better about my apparent intrusion into his life.

He first started posting when he was 14, so understandably, they're quite embarrassing to read, especially after I realised that just under a year later I would follow in his exact footsteps. We both went through a phase of following the pagan religion Wicca, we both made close friends online, and we both overused smilies and the use of asterix to denote *activity*.

It's really quite an odd experience, though. I'm used to mature, intelligent, and informed adult Alex that we see in his videos and wherever else he [used to] post on the internet (especially as I only quite recently joined the Nermie Army). Now all of a sudden I'm seeing a side of him that I hadn't even begun to imagine, and it's very hard to not see the two as completely different people.
It's partly because he's obviously undergone quite a large change in the last six years, which is to be expected. It's puberty, we all do. However, he is still the same person, so I can only conclude that it's down to my failure to see Alex as anything more than the persona he presents us with.

Whilst I'm not shifting the blame away from me here, I think that this may really be the fault of the internet. Think about it. Just think of three people you only know on the internet, or if you don't have that many people you only know online, just imagine how you saw your friend the last time you chatted on MSN or Skype. I may well be wrong, but I'm guessing you can only construct an image of their personality from how they interact with you. (Feel free to pwn me in the comments if not, btw)

I guess it's just a problem inherent to both our natural settings, and the barrier that the internet creates between you and everyone else, and is something that can only really be changed by a conscious effort to remind ourselves that the idiot in the BlogTv waiting room complaining about how John won't respond to him, is as human and real as you are*.

Apologies if you have no idea who or what I'm talking about here.. Less esoteric blog posts resume again tomorrow, I promise.

Love you all!

xo
gb


*For the record, I'm not pretending this is my own original thinking at all. I fully credit that I have just taken the concepts provided by John Green and the DFW speech and applied them to the internet. Again, feel free to tell me to STFU in comments.

Sunday 26 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Sixth: Meme Time and Dr. Horrible

Hi everybody!

It's your favourite time of the month! Meme time! (Not to be confused with Mean Time - A period necessary in every loving relationship.*) However, in the words of Yogi Bear: This ain't just your average internet meme, Booboo!

This time it's the meme king Alex Day that's behind the wheel, and it's not just another 'Five Facts and tag' game. It's called 'The Cube', and before you read any further, I need you to watch this video here (or just skip this bit and move on to the all-singing, all-dancing bit further down).

Seen it? Interesting, huh? I imagined a black cube, about 50 by 50cm, but it was a computer-type thing (like the one in the Terry Prachett novel Truckers, if you've read it). It was just sitting there, in the cracked dry desert. The ladder was completely vertical, and right in the background, and the horse was just standing around near the box, but in much the same position in the background as the ladder. I couldn't really place the flower anywhere properly, but it was in the foreground. The storm was in full throw, but there was no rain or lightening coming down. It was just loitering overhead.

To be honest, I'm not all that sure how much faith I place in it. I guess it makes sense in some ways, I have little confidence in myself, but I do think I'm quite intelligent. I do like to keep things separate like it suggests, and I try not to let the rain dampen my spirits. But as many of my friends will attest, I lean on my friends for everything, and my girlfriend is everything to me. So unless sub-consciously I'm a complete loner (and at this point I think we're trying to make the questions fit the answer) I'm not completely taken in by the whole thing.**
Still, it's an interesting psychological experiment, and I'd be very interested to read the accompanying book.

The second part of today's post is dedicated to something I'd heard of before, but never experienced it fully until today. 
I'd heard covers, such as Bill's, Hank's and Lauren's, and I was roughly aware of what it was, and so today I decided to take the plunge. It said on the Wikipedia page, that it was available on Hulu, for people in all countries.

It lied. Thankfully, however, a very nice user named KarikiNeroli has it uploaded on their YouTube account, so I watched it on there, and I can honestly say, I've never seen a musical quite as brilliant. I'm not going to compare it to Rent, or Les Mis, because it's obviously not in the same league (it's about 45 minutes long and is the brainchild of Buffy/Firefly creator Joss Whedon), but it was hilarious, with amazing, catchy, and well-sung songs, and it just did not disappoint, from start to finish.

I know a lot of you reading this will have seen it already, but those that haven't, you should.

Anyways, that's it from me today. I have the rest of this next week planned out. It's a little ironic that I've been wondering what to write about for most of the month, and now I have so much to pack into so little time!

Hope you're all well, and had a fabulous weekend.

xo
gb

*Not to be confused with Greenwich Mean Time, which is apparently some sort of localised period of frugality.
**Having said all this I just went through it with a friend and we found several plausible answers for all the odd parts. I'm still not fully convinced, however, so what I said still stands.

Saturday 25 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Fifth: Excuses, Excuses

Bonjour, mes amis.

I do often wish that I had an opening line. Like zefrank's 'Good Morning Sports Racers!', or WheezyWaiter's 'Hey there, Beardlovers!'. I know that giving a collective name to all twelve of the people that follow this would be a bit pretentious, and to be honest, I doubt this is ever going to have more than 15 followers (yes, I am confident that three more will come!), so there's little point when I can address you all by name.

I guess I should really ask for your forgiveness. Last post, I said that more would come on the topic, and indeed more shall come. But not just yet. As well as the follow up post(s) to that, I have another quite ambitious blessay, which is in the process of being written, both of which I'd like to have up by the end of #BEDA.

Combine that with over-ambitious writing projects to my girlfriend (1 year and 3 months today, Happy Anniversary, baby! (Yes we are one of those couples that counts the months, if you knew me, you'd understand why! :P)), and I'm sure you can understand why these will all take a little longer than I'd hoped.

In other news, I'm starting to think quite seriously about getting into writing. I still don't think I'm really good enough, but I enjoy it, so why not? It's not going to be instead of music, I don't think, unless it takes off/is profitable (which from what I've heard, it really isn't), but it'll give me something to do in the meantime. So I've sent of some examples of my writing to a couple places, and am planning a project to try and highlight certain aspects of it, for an upcoming project by the BBC.

Sorry for the lack of anything real for a while, I hope to get on that by Monday.

Love to you all!

xo
gb

Friday 24 April 2009

BEDA the Twenty-Fourth: Time that is Intolerant

Shalom!

So I'm aware that I must go at least one week without referencing John Green as some sort of demi-God, but the fact of the matter is that the man has bloody brilliant taste in poetry. Especially when you log on to Twitter at 5:00 in the morning as you're falling asleep, see he's live, rush over to BlogTv and the first thing you note is that his cathartic voice is gently wafting the words of W. H Auden towards your welcoming ears.

He brought to my [our] attention a deleted part of the poem 'In Memory of WB Yeats', which I hadn't heard before.

"Time that is intolerant
Of the brave and the innocent,
And indifferent in a week
To a beautiful physique,

Worships language and forgives
Everyone by whom it lives;
Pardons cowardice, conceit,
Lays its honours at their feet.

Time that with this strange excuse
Pardoned Kipling and his views,
And will pardon Paul Claudel,
Pardons him for writing well."


It amazes me that I've learnt more about myself as a person and about English and how brilliant writing can be from watching the vlogbrothers videos and the live shows, than I ever learnt at school.
Suck it, Clayesmore.

This is a short, pointless blog today, but one which I plan to expand on.


Watch this space.

xo
gb

Thursday 23 April 2009

#BEDA the Twenty-Third: Defining Giles

Wilkommen!

I've noticed that set titles for my #BEDA blogs are slowly changing. Apparently I'm now making them hashtags. Fun times! I'll go back and edit them in May, to keep my OCD happy.

Speaking of changes, you'll (hopefully) notice the ones around here! I've gone for a nice new white look, I've finally gotten rid of the pretentious mind-wank that was lurking under the title (replacing it instead with a pretentious quote about writing), and I've added a 'Skype Me!' button to make it easier for youse to stalk me. I like it, but it's by no means finished, or indeed set like this! Lemme know in comments what you think.

So JohnnyDurham has just kicked off a fabulous new meme (no sarcasm, I actually like this one), where you look your name up on UrbanDictionary [Side note - I used to be an editor for UrbanDictionary; I'd come home from school each day and they'd have emailed me a whole bunch of definitions to sift through and moderate.. I was a nerd from a very young age]. My name, Giles, is quite an unusual one, albeit one that every Buffy fan should know..

And indeed:

1. Giles - Buffy the Vampire Slayer's watcher.

Some things never change. The fact that I'm English (with a posh accent to boot), drink tea, and alarm easily does nothing to make this any less funny.

2. Giles - The kind of person who loves you:
'Awwwwwwww, Giles! You're such a Giles, let's make out!'

I promise you I'm not making this up, nor did I write it. It is good PR, though, it must be said. I shall now direct all future love interest* to this page..

Although, maybe not:

3. Giles - A beer-swilling, foul-mouthed Irishman who is known for his excellent leadership abilities.
'Damn! Giles can fucking drink!'

There is a small, albeit unlikely, chance that this was written about me. I do, for reasons unknown, put on a (bad) Irish accent when I'm inebriated. It is true that my leadership skills are second to none, and that, being a man of some heft, I can drink my own weight, and then some.** However, I doubt it. As anyone that's ever seen me drunk will verify, I rarely drink beer, choosing either whisky or wine, and when I do choose beer, I tend to spill as opposed to 'swill'. I also become overly verbose (moreso than normal), and scarily effeminate.

So perhaps not.

There are other definitions, but these are the best. I think we can all agree we've had a jolly good chuckle about them all! Now I'm not sure how Johnny's meme is going to go, and whether I should tag anyone. I will anyway, as this sort of thing is all very new and exciting to me.

I tag Amy, Casey, Weezie, Lydia, and Valerie.

Happy defining!

xo
gb

*I am of course joking. I'm all about the Amydouken! <33
**Two of the three facts in this sentence are lies.

Wednesday 22 April 2009

#BEDA the Twenty-Second:
These titles are getting silly

Hey gorgeous!

Okay, so this going to be quick (that's what she said, ha!). I literally couldn't think about what to write, more than usual. This might be because I woke up about 10 minutes before I left for my piano lesson, in which I played lots of lovely blues, and then I came back here and watched Alex Day on BlogTv. So yeah, not a whole lot to write about.

I'm actually getting better at piano, though, which is made of yay! I can almost play with both hands, and my improvisations getting there too. This makes me sound like such an amateur. I can play piano, just not boogie-woogie, and well, not very well at all, if I'm honest. But shh.

I'm re-considering learning to drive. I have previously said that I'll never learn to drive unless it's really getting in the way of things. At the moment, I can get a bus pretty much right to Amy's house, and there's a main line train station that runs past my doorstop that'll take me all the way to London if I let it. So no problems so far.

But today I was being driven by my Dad back from my lesson and we were driving past a really nice bit of countryside, and I just really regretted that I'd never just be alone, driving to nowhere with Zach Condon tingling my senses as I take in the vista. And then learning to drive just seemed to make sense. I am still very severely dyspraxic though, I can't tell my left from my right (for serious, I really can't), and I have terrible co-ordination. So maybe it's best if I stay off the roads.

Anyway, that's it for today. I haven't included any links in this, so I guess that makes me a bad blogger.

Suck it.

xo
gb

Tuesday 21 April 2009

#BEDA the Twenty-First:
The Beckoning of Happiness

Hey, you!

As you may have noticed, I'm trying (and failing) to start this in a new way every day. I'm rapidly running out of ideas. 

Well today was nice. I'm straining to enjoy my days more at the moment. Trying to slowly build myself up to the schedule I was at before my interview. I'm still getting up late, but I've got designated practise time, Tv time, and 'be nice to my parents mother' time. It's like rehab for the lazy. But tomorrow (or maybe the next day) I'm going to really hit the job-hunting hard. Somewhere there's a tiny charity shop where I can read all day with my name on it! :D

I think I'm going to miss #BEDA, when it's over. I really like how my friends now remind me to blog. I'll miss reviewing my day each evening, it's like a little de-briefing. It isn't, however, something I could really keep up. Maybe someday in the future I'll have enough readers to warrant posting everyday, but at the moment I think I'm just annoying a fair few people. I'll maybe go back to weekly posts, but I'll try and include a little something extra each week for those that do follow me.

I'm really loving the sun at the moment as well. I always complain about summer when I have to get dressed up to go out. I tend to look better with more clothes on, instead of less. But when I'm at home I can just mooch about the garden with a G&T, barefoot in my shorts, like a hobbit. It's lovely. We have a little patch of sand in the middle of our garden, where we put up this above-ground pool we have in the summer, and I love walking over it. It reminds me of the beach (two weeks!).  We also had our first meal outside tonight, and I annoyed the neighbours and their horses by playing Beirut songs on my ukulele to my parents.

I'm getting a new uke! Some of you probably know this, especially as one of you was with me when I tried it out. It's a Tanglewood, same make as my guitar. It's a concert soprano, a bigger version of the two smaller ones I have now, and it's beautiful! Only £79, and I've managed to persuade my Mom to pay £30/40 of it. That leaves me with some money to get all of John Green's books, and The Office. I've not properly treated myself like that in quite a while, so I don't feel too guilty. Plus I'm trying to make sure I do it at a time when I can afford it on top of everything else. 

Anyway, I'm off to have a nice shower, and get myself some nom, but I'll leave you with this lovely site that Valerie posted on Twitter. It's called StairPorn, and it's really, strangely, brilliant. There're so many beautiful staircases and some really cool ones too! Definitely worth checking out! 

Hope you're all well, my dears!

Loves,

xo
gb



Monday 20 April 2009

#BEDA the Twentieth: Is this Water?

Hi,

Okay, so John Green's live right now, so forgive me if this is fragmented and pretentious. The odd combination of brilliant poetry and casual wit that his live shows provide means that getting any kind of continuity is near impossible.

So that reminds me of something I've been meaning to post about for a while. In a show not so long ago now, John mentioned and then read this speech, by the writer David Foster Wallace. I saved it, and I've read it a few times in the past week, and I've given it a lot of thought. I'm generally quite quick to anger, and quick to judge, and I am definitely guilty of thinking that everything is going wrong solely for me. So it's made a bit of an impact on me, in that sense.
But there's also something else going on, something that I can't quite put my finger on yet; Some sort of wave which will break in the close future. Whether it will wash up good or bad, I don't yet know.

Anyway, speaking of me being quick to anger, I've been getting pretty annoyed at Facebook recently. Not the site itself, although I am a quite notorious critic of it. No, this time my problem lies with the users. People who make groups about how 'David W. Hall should be have his account deleted for his disgusting pro-Gay Marriage group!', people who post inane updates about how they're going to the gym, been to the gym, and are now whipping up a protein shake (but what do I know, I'm on Twitter), and people who invite me seven times to their group about a car dealership.

I would delete it, and in fact I was going to, but I don't want to fall into the Alex Day trap. I hardly use it anyway, and I've now made Twitter my homepage instead, which makes me feel a bit better. I still hate it though, so if I'm 'on' Facebook chat and I don't reply, or if you comment me and I don't reply, don't take it personally. I just don't use Facebook for anything else but a combined photo album/email account.

Of course you could just say this is a poor excuse for my laziness, but that would be very heartless of you. Why would you claim that? Plus generally if the comment is something that really matters/needs to be chased up, I'll do it away from Facebook. Like on Skype, which you should all get.

Anyway. That's it for today. Although I am thinking of buying this book.
Sexy, isn't it? (Inside joke, much? :P)

Miss you!

xo
gb

Sunday 19 April 2009

BEDA the Nineteenth: Oo-Er!

So Hi.

How are you? Have you missed me? I know, I know.. It's been a while. All of a day!

So yesterday I was lucky enough to have my second guest blogger, Casey, do my post. She did a great job, certainly better than what I was going to offer you! Her blog is here, if you fancy more. She's doing #BEDA too, so you can have your fill of awesomeness and lovely pictures.

So today I had my old music teacher over for lunch, which I'll admit I was dreading. He's lovely, and has helped me so much; I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for him. Still I didn't want him to see me bored, useless and unemployed like I am at the moment. But he was brilliant. I didn't feel like the disappointment that I thought I would, instead he made me feel like I still had all the potential I did when I sang the solo to Rutter's Requiem in Year 8.

He promised to put me in contact with some of his associates, to get me back into music, and already I've had an old brass teacher of mine demand that I get back to him as soon as I can.. So things might finally be looking up!

On the negative side of things however, I'm having problems with my beloved iPlayer. It won't stop halting, whatever I do, making it nearly impossible to watch any show. Couple this with the crippling nausea that's overtaken my body in the last half hour, and this evening isn't promising to be a good 'un.

Hope you're well!

All my love,

xo
gb

Saturday 18 April 2009

BEDA the Eighteenth: CaptainCeej behind the Wheel!





Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are



Got on the radio, my old blue jeans,
And I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve.
Feeling lucky today, got the sunshine,
Can you tell me what more do I need?
And tomorrow's a mystery, but that's okay.



Lot of people spend their time just floating
We were victims together but lonely
You got hungry eyes that just can't look forward
Can't give them enough but we just can't start over
Building with bent nails we're falling but holding,
I don't wanna take up any more of your time



Forever never seemed so close as when
you put your hands in my pockets and said,
"I'm quite fond of you kid. I think we'll be just fine.
You keep the sky & I'll settle for that look in your eyes"



Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine,
I'm leaving my life in your hands.
People say I'm crazy and that I am blind,
risking it all in a glance.
But how you've got me blind is a mystery.
I can't get you out of my head.
Don't care what is written in your history,
as long as you're here with me.






































Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise





x





Friday 17 April 2009

BEDA the Seventeenth: My bad!

Well, yes. Lets not talk about it too much, shall we? I almost failed #BEDA, and needless to say, I saw my blogging life flash before my eyes. So let's focus on the positive instead, shall we?

Wednesday saw my first guest blogger, Amy! I kind of threw her in the deep end, a bit, as she's never blogged before, and didn't really know anything about it until she started dating me! Despite this, she did really well, and got the highest number of positive ratings this blog has had so far! So a big success for Amy! *claps*

So in related news, part of my intention when I started #BEDA was to get more interaction with my readers and followers. Not the horrible corporate 'interaction' that people follow you on Twitter to provide, but real interaction. More comments, ratings, questions and ideas. So far, I'd say it's been pretty successful. I'm now getting at least two ratings every post, and my average number of comments have gone up. I've had some great ideas input and I even had one of my followers write it a post for me!

I still think I can get more, and I'd love to. Partly I'd like to try and make the 'guest blogger' thing a regular occurrence. That'll hopefully come in time, but really, anyone's welcome! Let me know in the comments, or email me.
The other thing I'd really like is your involvement with changing the layout. This layout's quite a typical one, and there's been a huge influx of blogs looking like these due to #BEDA, so I'm gonna be throwing some new layouts at you, as well as new sidebars and new describeys (^ Up there, BeardLovers ^).

Anyway, as most of you know now, YouTube's changing. I'll admit that my attitude to the changes has changed quite radically, and whilst I'm still apprehensive about what affect this will have on the communities we've built around user-generated content, I'm sure we'll pull through it. I've heard good reports from people for whom it's already changed, and I just hope that YouTube aren't going to do a Hulu, and forget about us over the pond.

In other news, the new Harry Potter trailer is out! Yes, I did dance a little.. It looks amazing. Some really great acting there from Tom Felton in the part of Draco. I'm still concerned about the soppy Harry/Ginny kiss as opposed to the fiery one in the books but meh. I'm just happy it's going to happen! Bring on June!

One last thing (yes I'm compensating for almost failing yesterday by writing a really long post today, deal with it!), the ever benevolent, omniscient and powerful John Green (@realjohngreen), has pledged to donate $1,000 to the fight against malaria, if we can convince the now-being-followed-by-a-million-people actor Aston Kutcher (@aplusk) to follow him on Twitter. Aston is obviously gonna have a lot of spammy @Replies, so we're going to have to use our numbers.

NerdFighters - To work!


Happy hunting!

xo
gb

Thursday 16 April 2009

BEDA the Sixteenth: SHIT I FORGOT!

YouTube's changing.. It's sad.

Add me on Facebook to see my new hair.
The Decemberists are great, check them out on YouTube (irony!) as I don't have time to link.

That is all!

xo
gb

Wednesday 15 April 2009

BEDA the Fifteenth: Amy in Da Hooouse!

Hello bloggers and internetians! (i did just make that up) I am writing the one they call Giles' blog today, because he asked me too. First of all, I have never written a blog in my life,and have only recently understood the whole blogging concept. I've been told I can write about pretty much anything, but I'm not sure what to talk about...so bare with me!

This weekend, I managed to tick something off my 'Things to do before I die list', which was to ride in a Monster Truck. People who know me, will realise im not what you expect. I love dressing up and going out and dancing my little tushy off, but I also love burly trucks and stunt shows, so there's something you didn't know about me :). I first saw Monster Jam in America visiting my Uncle in 2001, possibly 2002, and have been a massive fan since. We won a raffle (me and my Pops) to go in one, with 6 other people, pretty lucky really! It's also the only one in Europe you can sit in, and I was in it XD

Titanic sunk on this day in 1912 according to the BBC. I personally think Titanic is a superb film, and I do highly reccommend it. I am a film fanatic by the way, I have around 200+ DVD's which is forever growing. Recently watched a film called 'Taken' with Liam Neeson, and I am not joking, it's one of the best thriller films i've ever seen. It's your basic kidnap plot, but it really keeps you on your toes, and there's some pretty hardcore fights too, really believable stuff, none of this being thrown off a building or out of an airplane and magically landing in a car nonsense, it's a good film and Liam Neeson is properly awesome. Although no film will top the Jurassic Park trilogy, my favourite films of all time :)

I should probaby shutup now, you won't have gained much from this blog other then that I love trucks and watch a lot of films. So here is a few facts about a true blogger know as Giles...
1. He's a really lovely guy, most genuine like.
2. He's better at music then he gives himself credit for
3. He gives amazing hugs, and is the best person to talk to if you're feeling a bit blue.

Fare thee well my lovelies! Have a lovely evening :)

XO
AC

Tuesday 14 April 2009

BEDA the Fourteenth: European Excursions!

Hello. Are you pantless? Are you?! Hmm? Hmm?! Well good. I'm not sure if we're still doing the whole #nopants thing in light of recent ambiguous revelations, but in my opinion it's always better to be pantsless!

Today was an odd day, but a nice day. I got my hair cut, firstly. It's shorter than any of you will remember me having (I say any of you, 90% of my readers have never met me! :P), but I really like it. I can't be assed to take pictures tonight, but I'm staying over at Amy's tomorrow, so I'll make sure we take photos then!

Anyway, after my hairdressers appointment, my parents went to go to the gym (they won three years free membership - Only them!), leaving me only with a train fare and some money for some brie. I stocked up on a very European lunch, set off for the train station, and left Dorchester and my parents behind.

I ended up not going home, but instead going off on a little excursion. Nowhere adventurous, but the knowledge that no one in the world had any idea where I was at that time really made me happy. It was a bit of time out from my own life. Natural time out, like I've not had before. It was lovely.

Anyway, I stayed there for an hour or two and then came back home, enjoyed my French lunch and watched One Tree Hill. It was the kind of day I've been dreaming of for weeks.

Then later on I found out that the jackdaws that had fairly innocuously been living in our chimney had somehow actually been blocking all the toxic fumes from our wood fire from escaping. As a result the house is now smoke free, but smells like an Anglo-Saxon soup kitchen, and is a toxic nightmare. So we might very well all asphyxiate in our sleep. In which case, I will have failed #BEDA. I have however taking the precaution of sleeping with the window open (which means in turn I can't have lights on for fear of moths), and the carbon monoxide detector isn't at critical yet, so we're okay.

So that's it from me today, and indeed tomorrow as I have a guest blogger in to fill in while I'm away, which should be fun! Hope you're all well, wish me luck with the breathing thing!

Socks first, then shoes.

xo
gb

Monday 13 April 2009

BEDA the Actual Thirteenth:
Doing the No-Pants Dance

As the more observant of you will have noticed, I got the date wrong on my last blog. So yeah, it probably deserves the 'Fail' tag that one mean person gave it. So I guess this is take two.

I'm a bit late in blogging about this issue as it really surfaced early this morning, but I needed sleep. As anyone who follows Maureen Johnson on Twitter, or indeed anyone that has at least half an eye on the Twitter 'Trends' will know, Amazon.com have recently shown themselves to be a bunch of bigoted twats.

A few days ago now, the sales rankings of hundreds of gay, lesbian, and transgender romance books disappeared. No one really knew why. Theories abounded: it could have been a glitch like the YouTube view count glitch, or the system could have temporarily been down. Then publisher and author, Mark Probst contacted Amazon through his Advantage account, and received the following response:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage


Needless to say, the internet world went mad.

Investigation by others then showed that Amazon had, pretty neatly, effectively set up a category 'gay and lesbian', which it deemed inappropriate. Even then, there was little method to their madness, with some gay autobiographies getting stripped, whilst others aren't. A lot of books have been deemed 'too adult', but yet a lot of straight erotica hasn't (more on this in a superbly written blog here). Even worse, if you type 'homosexuality' into Amazon, you get this.

The end result of this outrage is that the internet community has pretty quickly whipped up a boycott, which has been, in part, headed by our own dear Maureen, who is encouraging you to take off your pants to protest. Light-hearted, and typically brilliant though this is, it's also raising much needed awareness of the Amazon boycott, in protest to this disgusting revelations.
Join in.

Anyway, in other news. The same Maureen will be doing a show on BlogTv tonight, at 11PM for us in the UK, and 6PM EST for our friends over the pond. I know some people have been camped out in the BlogTv chat until tonight, so you know it's going to be good.

I have also gotten myself an account on Blip.fm. Blip is hard to explain really, it's like Twitter, but with music. If you don't have one, you should definately get one, and if you do, you should add me!

Thanks for the fantastic response to my last post guys. Two comments and three ratings is the most I've gotten so far and it felt pretty great! Keep it up!


Hope you're all okay! See you in BlogTv!

xo
gb

Sunday 12 April 2009

BEDA the Thirteenth: Happy Zombie Jesus Day

Right! So I had a stellar idea for a subject, but I forgot (again!). So I opened it up to you guys instead, and I got various suggestions. So, in the words of Mr. John Green: This comes in three parts.


1. Easter:

So yeah, it was Easter Sunday today, which was nice. I got lots of chocolates (which I'm actually enjoying right now with some wine) although I didn't have to hunt for them, they were just sitting in my place on the breakfast table. We had a big roast turkey dinner, which I'm told is actually a tradition on Easter Sunday, something I didn't know! And people have been wishing me 'Happy Zombie Jesus Day' today, which is made entirely of win! Also I use the word 'which' too much.

2. Bananas:

Bananas are a fairly large, usually yellow fruit, most commonly found in hot, tropical areas. They are technically a berry, although in cultivated varieties their seeds have degenerated to nothing more than black specks in the flesh of the fruit. Banana skins are widely know to cause mishaps and are responsible for 60% of all falls. Eating bananas is widely discouraged as it can lead to the eventual decay of the soul as the fruit sucks your essence from you. Adolf Hitler famously consumed his own weight in bananas each day, and many claim it is this that turned the tide of World War II. The author of this blog would not consume a banana if you paid him.

3.'Shout outs':

a) Amy is lovely for forgiving my gayness and idiocy. I love her lots and you should too.
b) Casey is 'cool' despite being an even bigger nerd than I could ever claim to be.
c) Alysia and Lydia are brilliant for giving me topics to write about.

xo
gb

Saturday 11 April 2009

BEDA the Eleventh: Oh God, I'm Gonna Cry!

Truth be told, I almost forgot about this post.

As you've probably picked up if you've been reading this blog anywhere near semi-regularly, I'm a big fan of the BBC's iPlayer service. I first stumbled across it trying to find an old episode of Bill Bailey's 'Museum of Curiosity'. Then, I discovered it had much more to offer than Just a Minute and Dead Ringers. There were episodes of Top Gear, Jonathan Ross, and even the odd 'Live at the Apollo'. Then, bored one day, I decided to give Doctor Who a go, just to see what everyone was raving about.

At first I thought it was shoddy and childish, and watched it merely for laughs and to give me something to do. Then by the end of the second series I was already fighting back tears when the Doctor was ripped away, just as he was about to say goodbye to Rose. Then I carried on, until I was well and truly addicted.

So then, this all leads up to tonight, where, for a brief hour, I was in exactly the same position as every other Who fan in the world. Well, almost. I haven't watched it yet. But I've caught up, and I know it's probably gonna get emotional in here, get out while you can!

xo
gb

Friday 10 April 2009

BEDA the Tenth: Watching Nerimon Can Seriously Ruin Your Day

Well today was rubbish!

I sleep with my laptop next to my bed, so when I wake, I open it up, switch my MSN status to Available and check my Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and see what's on iPlayer. Today when I did this, I was feeling cheerful, and optomistic about my day. Then I watched Alex Day's most recent VEDA video, and I was driven insane with jealously. He had a great breakfast, great programmes to watch, and then he was off to see his best friend. I struggle daily to find anything edible in this house, there's generally fuck all to watch, and I never have money to go anywhere.

I guess this is my fault, and coincides nicely to something important that I need to update some of my friends on, but still. It makes for a sucky day.

Anyways, then Amy had virus problems, Twitter went down, and now MSN is being a twat too. I'd like to (again) request anyone that I regularly speak to over MSN (or anyone that just fancies a chat) to get Skype and add me (Flangel66). :]

Just a short post today, I've got to go back to wrestling with Microsoft.

You be well.

xo
gb


EDIT: There is now also an email address to direct your questions too, plus anything else you'd want to email me about regarding this blog. It is: FlangelBlog@gmail.com


Message me, bitches!

Thursday 9 April 2009

BEDA the Ninth: HP Addicts Anonymous

So today I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I'm already missing the Wizarding World. I can see why fanfic is so popular: I want to know more about all the characters, I want to see them in their houses, cleaning pans with magic and arguing over whether or not the babies should be allowed a Pygmy Puff. I can't wait for the films, even though I know they can't do the books justice. Wizard Rock is some comfort, but I need more.
I am a Harry Potter addict, and I need help.

Anyway, my day was practically non-existent. I slept 'till late afternoon, watched 'Hey, Arthur' on iPlayer, Omegled, and now I'm watching John Green on BlogTv. I did have a big point to blog about, it struck me as I was rearranging the pepperoni on my pizza, but I've forgotten it. I don't think it was very interesting anyway.. Nothing induced by pizza ever is.

Anyway, I think it's high time I jumped on the 'Ask me questions' band wagon. I'll give it a few days before I do it, as it'll take me quite a while to get enough questions. So leave you questions in the comments, be it on BlogSpot, either of the Ning's, Twitter, or Facebook. I will collate and answer them all!

Hope you're good! I'm off to listen to John Green read David Foster-Wallace.

Best wishes!

xo
gb

Wednesday 8 April 2009

BEDA the Eighth: Belgians on My Trail

I always forget how to spell 'Eighth'. I guess that's why numbers were invented.

Today I walked into my piano lesson to find a small, unshaven Belgian sitting at the piano. He was visiting because of a mini-gathering my teacher was holding, to promote his summer festival (which I'm apparently now helping to promote..), and to get more of the community involved in Boogie and Dance. While he was down, he gave a masterclass to me and the guy before me. He was amazing, played like I'd never heard before, it was quite inspirational.

I'm never good around better musicians; My arrogance kicks in and I have to find something that I'm better at to mentally gloat about. I stood there thinking: "Yeah, he's better at me at piano, but I could annotate the shit out of 'Grapes of Wrath'!"
Pathetic.

I came away from that lesson really wanting to do more with the piano in my songs, really wanting to practise piano loads more, and having heard at least 60 different versions of 'Hellhound on my Trail'.

Anywaaay.. The last few days at Amy's have been lovely! Lots of cuddles and good food, as well as the obligatory name calling, but now I'm home. Sad times! It also sucks that because of salary dates and governmental holidays, I'm now out of money until pretty much the end of the month. Luckily I've got two seasons of One Tree Hill, and BEDA to keep me occupied! :]

Loves!

xo
gb

Tuesday 7 April 2009

BEDA the Seventh: Mr Muscle Woes!

Hello all.

Today's blog comes from the wonderful house of Coughlan, where I am currently shacked up with the eldest daughter, whilst the mother and baby sis are away. She has Vista - Yay! >.<

Now don't think I'm complaining, but one thing I don't think I'll ever really get used to is that experience of planning, writing, and re-drafting something like that last update, and getting just one positive rating (from my girlfriend). It's odd because all of the people whose blogs I read actually do something else, and so therefore have a bigger reader base, and as a direct result have great interaction from them. I, however, have done nothing apart from a few well aimed witticisms to minor celebrities on Twitter (thus earning me a ReTweet or a Reply), and told all of my friends that if they don't follow me, they obviously don't love me.

So I guess I can't be suprised when a post about something as obscure as Omegle.com gets less comments and ratings than I'd like. I can reassure myself with the thought that hopefully in the future I'll achieve something that'll bring readers and fangirls to my blog in their hordes, and then they'll rate and comment all my old posts like crazy. Until then, I'll just have to make wittier posts, and spam the interwebs until they get the ratings, comments, and spotlight showings that I'd like! :P

Anyway, in other (slightly old) news.. What's up with the new Mr. Muscle adverts?! Where's the weedy guy in the ill-fitting wife-beater? Now we've got some bulky dude in (again ill-fitting) spandex. They've removed the irony from the adverts, and well, now none of us can identify with the character like we could before. Way to kill your product, SC Johnson.

Also, all Britney Spears songs now sound the same. Discuss.

xo
gb

Monday 6 April 2009

BEDA the Sixth: Oh My Eagle!

So this Omegle thing..

Firstly, I will grant three genie-like wishes, to anyone that can tell me what the hell 'Omegle' means, stands for, or how it is supposed to be said. Me and 'Stranger' (she was Finnish) last night agreed that it could be lolspeak for 'Oh my eagle!', but then we also realised that neither of us have ever cursed by saying 'Oh my eagle!', and we probably wouldn't even if we actually had an eagle (new internet meme, though? Make it happen!!).

After I got over the initial confusing mix of emotions that I always feel when I meet a new word I don't know, though, I got to thinking. Isn't Omegle just a tad dangerous?

I mean, I know there's all the jokes and lulz about the tagline 'Talk to Strangers', which I agree is generally a good thing to ignore and do anyway, and I know that you only actually speak to each 'Stranger' once, and that the chances of bumping into them again (and then realising that, to boot) are slim to none, but I'm sure a really adept paedophile could weasel your Skype name, if not your number, address, and whereabouts in your room your bed is, in one conversation. In fact, I'd like to state now that I have every faith in the unregistered deviants of the world, as they struggle to perform this feat.

Now, looking from an English point of view, I'd say the biggest proponent of Omegle so far has been Alex Day, or Nerimon. He has thousands of dedicated subscribers, or Nermies, many of whom will, and did, rush to Omegle to see what it's all about. Luckily, though, a lot of Alex's subscribers seem to be older teenagers, and young adults, all with a decent degree of intellect and internet nouse. So far, then, like a bear snatching at salmon jumping upstream, our paedophillic friends are out of luck. A subscriber that can email a MENSA member with helpful career advice based simply on his blog posts is hardly likely to fall prey of online perverts.

The problem comes, in hordes, with the screaming fangirls. Forgive me for stereotyping, but the typical fangirl seems to be about 12, think Edward Cullen is the very (granted, unliving) embodiment of perfection, and will follow whatever the next internet trend is. No doubt, with their passion for 'randomness' (a concept, according to them, apparently started by Charlieissocoollike), they will less-than-three Omegle, and the chance to act up to people that don't know them.. And that's where our child-snatching friends will have a ball.

Having said all that, I like it, and honestly hope it doesn't conform to meet the demands of the Daily Mail families of the world. Hopefully its user base will continue to be mainly comprised of web-savvy young adults, and so the "peedos that live around every corner!!!!!!!!" won't have a chance to do their illegal thang.

See you on there, stranger.

xo
gb

Sunday 5 April 2009

BEDA the Fifth: Lazy Sunday

Ah, Sundays. They're ne'er a very fun day.

So that opening line was just a throw away gambit for a rhyme. But it's also true. I like my Saturdays wild and my Sundays lazy and proverbially easy. And today was beautifully so (I always have to think of Bruce Almighty when I spell 'beautiful').

I watched Top Gear on iPlayer and read crappy teenage books (full reviews later this week), and went for a long walk with my Mom. It was nice, and although we argued, we're both now on the same page as far as my future is concerned. :]

Anyways, now I'm talking to 'Stranger' on Omegle (see Nerimon's latest #BEDA vlog if you don't know what it is), and I'm off for a shower, some Who, some Ross, a sleep, and then some cuddles.

Sleep well and have a nice Monday!

xo
gb

EDIT: Sorry this update is so 'Today was Sunday. I was lazy. It was nice.'. I'm just tired (ironically) and I need a shower and a drink, and plus I'm rapidly running out of time to post this. :]
xxxxxx

Saturday 4 April 2009

BEDA Day Four: Managerial Weezes

Well hallooo!

I'm sorry about the lack of a real post yesterday. I was pushed for time, and as I'd already posted something I didn't think you'd mind. Also I'd quite like to keep it to one post a day, so I can look back and see 'April (30)' and have fond memories. :]

Today was really lovely. I met up with my friend Weezie, who I've not seen in an age. It was great to catch up with her, and abuse her friends, take silly photos, and she also said she'd be my manager if I wanted, when I start touring properly. She already manages a great band called Amity Road, who you should check out, and a couple other bands as well. So all in all it's made of yay!

Two bands I'm really getting into atm are Antony and the Johnsons, who appeared on 'Friday Night with Jonathan Ross' last night, and White Lies, who are quite Joy Division-y. Check 'em out!

Anyway, I'm off to try and make the most of my Saturday night on iPlayer.. Speak tomorrow! :)

xo
gb

Friday 3 April 2009

BEDA Day Three: You are wonderful and rare

I hope this makes you as happy as it made me, as I cooked my supper.

Spread some happiness.

Love,

Giles
xox

Thursday 2 April 2009

BEDA Day Two: This is going to be hard

That's what he said.

This is actually quite a challenge! I'm used to having about a week to think things through and decide what the tone of the update is going to be, and what I'm going to write.. Now I have a day to try and do the same. Eeep!

Anyway, today was alright. So yeah, I accidentally punched and broke a window (in two fewer punches than it takes Jude Law in Alfie ><), and my Dad forgot to turn the oven off and decided to drop me and my ill girlfriend in the middle of nowhere and make us walk miles to catch our bus.. But I also bought a four pack of Bueno for £1:00, have loaaaads of sweets left over from having Amy over, and have a rather large bottle of Lambrini (it's cheap, tastes nice, and makes me tipsy - leave me alone!) to get me through the night.

So yay!

In other news, I now have my (technically my Mom's, but shhh) laptop back, and therefore have Chrome, Twhirl, 4OD and all the other things I missed back, although MSN isn't working, so that's a bit of a bugger. In the mean time, add me on Skype, if you have it/know me/want to chat. Search for Flangel66. :]

The search for BEDA blogs will have to wait until tomorrow!

You be well, bloglovers.

xo
gb

Wednesday 1 April 2009

BEDA the First: April Fools

So here we are! At the beginning, and I'm already quite late. In my defence, I have had the lovely Amy Douken over today, and she's quite distracting. Even now she's sitting behind me, being unnecessarily kind to my dog.

I've decided to have a 'Convo of the Day' section of my BEDA blogs, so that even if I run short of things to say, I can rely on the wit of my friends instead. I'm stealaging this from Alan Lastufka, who is, as they say, made of awesome.

Anyway, today was April Fools, the day when poor humour is out in force. Luckily, I've not actually been subjected to any malformed pranks, but I'm doubtless that the rest of you have not been so lucky, so leave your experiences in the comments!

Anyway, having just rescued at cat from a bungee rope (don't ask!), I'm off to bed. More in-depth blogging tomorrow, when I will be attempting to find as many BEDA blogs as I can.

Don't forget to be awesome, lovelies!

xo
gb


Convo of the Day:
Me: The problem with porn is..
Amy: I dare you to start a blog post with that!
Me: Don't think I will, it's a subject that needs to be covered!

(Okay, so they're not all winning..)