Cambridge, with Whitehouse

It's that time of our lives. The thirtieth birthday parties are flowing thick and fast at the minute. We've had Dr Jim's, and now Big Chris's party in Cambridge. How does one get to Cambridge from MCR? Via Leeds and Peterborough, it seems. Four-and-a-half hours later, and I arrived.

Wild purple hair

This is the blue eyed punk. Pretty, eh?

Dinner and the theatre

"I said I'd fix my mate's bike," said Laura on her knees, "can you hold... that for me please... thanks..." Her hands were covered in black oil. I grinned. "I just need to wash my hands now," she said.
"You can do it at the restaurant," I said, "the table's booked for five."

Laura's haircut

It's short eh? But it looks great!

Can't I procrastinate some other time?

After the jump is a list of things that I did before starting my homework today.

Paul? Or Satan? Paul? Or Satan?

Wizard’s Sleeve, F.L.A.M.E ,Clown’s Pocket and so on

The scratch-marks down my back burned all evening; it had been an intense afternoon. I headed home after we’d eaten spaghetti, and went to ready myself for Eileen’s 30th birthday. Dunk and Kate were sat at the kitchen table when I arrived, eating pizza. We chewed the fat over a cider, and it was lovely.

Bingo!

Twice bitten by the same beast

Helen was at it again.

“Winnie, have you got any plans for the weekend?”
“No I haven’t, why?”
“Can you feed my cat?”

Again, poor Laura had been sucked into her trap. Laura texted me to explain it all, and again, my blood raged. "Feed it broken glass," I said.

It was half-term, meaning college was off, so my night was open. Laura texted.

L >>Do you have any plans later?
D >>No I haven’t. I thought about going for a run, but I remembered I’m injured Would you like to hang out?
L >>Can you look after my cat?

She’s hilarious! She’s so, so funny! *Swoon*

Valentines Day

We lounged in bed until noon, then strolled down the Meresy, round the water park, and through the Southern Cemetery.At the Chinese New Year celebrations, we bought some buns from Wong's that Laura didn't like. The Filmonik screening at Trof didn't feel right, so we snuck of to Sand Bar and tried some tasty ciders instead.

A stranger took this picture of us. I really like it.

"My, my, my, what a lovely wall!"

Tracy has moved into a new flat in the Northern Quarter. It’s very swanky, with the whole block converted from a former banking building. There’s one wall that’s just exposed brickwork. The whole flat is kind of open plan, but kind of not – imagine a doorway between the bedroom and dining area, and a double doorway between the dining area and lounge, but without the doors. She made Delia’s spaghetti carbonara recipe, and we had apple pie as dessert. Dinner was lush, and Laura made a great impression on Tracy and Andy.

Now That's What I Call Music!

Laura and I had given Graham a few ideas about the pub quiz when we'd met him in Oddest last week - namely to include East 17's Deep, and to do a round on the Now... series of compilation albums. As we sat and did the quiz, we saw our suggestions made real before our eyes.

Laura's friend Michelle had invited us to join her and her boyfriend Dave at the pub quiz. At the last minute, however, Helen had jumped on board too. The good news is that we finished first in the pub quiz. The bad news is that Helen was dead rude, and embarrassed Laura throughout.

Everywhere we goat…

“It’s Luke’s surprise birthday drinks, will you come?”

The Hula Bar, off Stevenson Square, is a hidden gem. Tucked away down some stairs is a cocktail menu worth much wider exposure. Rum, rum and more rum is on the menu – they have ninety-odd varieties – and it’s mixed in some wonderful ways. We had a Mai Tai, a Mojito and a pair of Zombies, each of which was exquisite. And I got to meet some of Laura’s colleagues.

Making learning fun

I have never known an atmosphere like it at college. Never has there been so much laughter between the paving slabs of fact and discussion. I doubt that's because Theory X and Theory Y are a barrel of laughs, or that Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is an absolute hoot - far from it. It's the residual impact of the residential. I'm looking forward to the rest of the course now.

One thing I'm less enthused about, however, is our new tutor. Today she said the IQ stood for intelligence QUOTA rather than intelligence quotient. Yes, quota, as in a restriction based on specific quantity. Says it all, what?

College residential

Our tutor had been eerily quiet about the residential weekend, to the extent that some of the class were getting a little worried about its content. Would it be an Outward Bound affair? Would we be pushed to the limits of our souls to find out who we truly were inside, man? Were the SAS involved? Would we be getting wet?

Birthday trip

The first act of my thirties was lazily nostalgic: I lounged in my bed, leafing through the amazing book that Louise had bought me for my birthday. Sporting my new Superman underpants, I headed downstairs, to find a sea of balloons that Kate had inflated for me. Just look at them! Look!

Patatas Bravas, Kumbi, Hair,

I made patatas bravas to go with the mezze that I had planned for Laura. Kumbi popped round to drop off some barn stuff, and we had a beer and a chat. Do you want to see Laura’s new hair? It’s quite spectacular! Photo after the jump, click on!

Little run

How better to spend a day off? Map after the jump...

I ♥ muff diving

Laura and I went for breakfast at the Chorlton Eatery. It’s a good sized meal, with quick and friendly service – of course the true test of service is how the weekend rush is handled – so why hadn’t I been before? I thought about putting it to Dunk and Kate as a possible venue, but didn’t check the veggie options before I left. .