"We've been burgled."

My elation of an afternoon off work, and my excitement of going out for the evening with the lovely Laura, were both sadly truncated by finding out that we’d been burgled.

A power cut at work? Early departure? Jackpot! Well, so I thought. Arriving home at 2pm, I settled into bed to read The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Something that I read recently inspired me to pick it up and to appreciate it again. It really is a daring and exciting book, both with its plot and its style. What bliss!

Life is not all cake and owl.

The pizza party wheel just keeps on turning, and the pizza party wagon rolls on and on and on. Building on the good work of the party with the Padmores and the one with Megan, the third shindig was AWESOME!

We had guests: Champ; Paulina; Laura; Rory; Laura; Pippa; Hannah.

We had games: Pass the Parcel; Talking Heads.

We had cake. Home-made, hand-decorated owl cake.

Pippa and Paulina took steps towards peace between each other (maybe via a two-state solution?) by finding common ground over Twin Peaks. Pass the Parcel went down very well – generosity won hearts and minds all around the room. And then Dunk unveiled the cake. Triumphant! Kate’s face said it all.

Break on through to the other side

Bleugh! After our heavy, heavy night in Chorlton, I had a spectacular hangover. Kate did too. Unfortunately, Kate had to go to work at 8am, and then go dancing to celebrate her own birthday that evening. I was able, thankfully, to stay in bed.

Lucian called, explaining that he was in town, and asking if I fancied joining him for a pint. Yes, I thought, why not? Because you feel rough as arses, and very dehydrated? Not good enough! We met in the Northern, and enjoyed a few pints in the company of Jamie. Jamie, a teacher, had raised two butterflies in his class at school. The kids had named one of them Michael Jackson. Pun king Lucian was soon riffing away - "It don't matter if you're Cabbage White." Jamie pointed out that these puns were amongst the least transferrable of all gags because they were so specifically tied to the concept of a butterfly named Michael Jackson. Four pints and many laughs later, we said farewell and I shot back to Stretford.

I don't know how Kate managed to push through her tiredness, but after some booze in the house, we were out again. In the Sand Bar, we ended up divided into two groups: Chaw's friends and Kate's friends. Danesh Ali, Miriam, the Padmores and several others showed up at once, which furthered the wedge between the two halves of the party. So it goes, I guess. When it came to moving to a dancing place, Chaw and her friends elected to drink at the Deaf Institute, while we trooped to the Tiger Lounge. Robbie was there, and Champ too. We danced and drank and danced some more. It was - I think - a brilliant occasion. I think, because my drunken memories are vague... Karaoke at 3am... Chips... Another hangover approaching...?

Apicoectomy, Arnie quiz

Thanks to some pulled strings by Lucinda and Laura, I went to see Dr R_____ in Wigan today for an apicoectomy. The first thing that he showed me when I went in was a little sinus on his gum line. He’d had a trauma aged 7, and for 50 years he’d had a chronic abscess behind his front teeth. It caused him no pain, he said, and it drained the fluid out periodically. He seemed eager to tell me his tale, showing me his x-rays and comparing them to mine. He used me a test case, showing his dental nurse what this now rare procedure (rare in local practices these days, he said) looked like. Even Laura came down for a peek. I didn't mind at all - after the strings and whatever else, it was the least I could do.

My mouth went from numb to not numb during the process of interviewing one of my colleagues about a project that we'd worked on together. I love the feeling as the anaesthetic wears off.

I went to Oddest to meet Kate and to participate in the quiz there. It turns out the quiz was Arnie themed, in honour of the great man's birthday tomorrow. The quiz was made for me, Kate said. We didn't win though. Boo.

Coincidence

Lindsey from work is going out with Dave Shmoo! Nuts!

Kate, Paulina, Ryan and I went to Blowout with Matt and Chaw to watch She Keeps Bees, who are going to be at the Green Man Festival this year. As we were chatting, Kate pointed out Dave Shmoo. As he came over, Lindsey said "Hello!" to me. We know Dave Shmoo from Sol's and Fuel. Tiny world.

I was half-pissed when they walked in, and ended up ranting about Moss Side to Lindsey. I'm sure she was baffled by my ramblings.

Pea and mint risotto, raspberry meringue, sauvignon blanc

Pippa came round for tea, my second guest (after Dr Jim), and just as welcome. Pea and mint risotto is easy to cook, and less wanky than it sounds. We talked about the ongoing dental work, about last week’s news, about the move, about her arrogant housemate and her planned move to M21. Our grand old chat ended, as always, with me thinking that too long passes between our meetings.

I’d finished Maus, and Pip had finished Perseopolis, so we swapped them. As Pippa’s taxi pulled away, I was already turning pages with a smile.

Kate came home unexpectedly early, which was a nice surprise. I was a bit pissed, but didn’t say anything too stupid, I hope. Matt and Chaw soon arrived too. Chaw said that her friend Kate, who she’s trying to matchmake me with, was coming out to the dogs for Dunk’s birthday. The love-plot thickens, eh?

Let’s go for a green, star performer… again.

We had a little party for Dunk’s birthday. Kate and I made a cake, and iced it red. Gethin and Cara came round, and Al and Ander followed. We lit the barbecue, hooked up Spotify and sat around in the garden chatting. Ander was really impressed with the hairdryer on the barbecue trick. I wish I had the video he took of its fiery glory, sadly I don’t. Matt and Chaw arrived later with booze and meat reinforcements.

- insert cake picture here -

I blame myself, but I wasn’t alone. I started it all, but it was the others who made it get out of hand. I’d cued up some Wu-Tang, remembering how much I’d enjoyed it last night. An eyebrow rose here, a foot tapped there; it was going down quite well. Then Dunk disappeared into the kitchen, and here our troubles began. We had an urban interlude.

Regulate – Warren G
Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince
Millionaire – Andre 3000 (feat. Kelis)
Concrete Schoolyard – Jurassic 5
No Digitty – Blackstreet

There was a much better collective mood than the last time we played Cranium. I was with Dunk, Al was with Gethin, leaving Kate, Cara and Ander to make up the third team. Dunk, as birthday boy and king of the day, took responsibility for choosing what colour card should be drawn when a team rolled a purple. And the answer was, invariably, Green.

Green – humdinger
Green – cameo
Green – copycat

It’s the most entertaining card to watch, Dunk reasoned, and he was right. The Al and Geth show was the pick of them. What a brilliant night.

Kudos to Blackwell’s at Manchester University, who ordered and took delivery of Dunk’s birthday gift – Maus – in less than 24 hours. I got a copy for me too, and read it into the night.

To be the subject of match-making

Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Does it put artificial pressure on two people, or is it a good way to meet someone that your friend would recommend for you?

Chaw's friend Kate is lovely. Pretty, intelligent, funny. She likes cycling and growing vegetables. Let's see what happens next!

The Thief's Journal

I rode the pilot’s seat (at the very front on the top deck) of the 15 bus to work today. It’s my new route in, and at the time of day that I caught it, the bus seems to head directly into the rising sun. I’ve started to read the Thief’s Journal by Jean Genet, a filthy little horror of a book. I like it.

Kate was working, and Matt and Chaw were out, so I had the whole house to myself. I made mushrooms, tomatoes, and pasta as I listened to some of Kate’s records and then mooched about in my cargo pants. Spotify. Facebook. A bit of studying. And slowly starting to feel less like a visitor and more like a resident. Slowly…

Signed, sealed, delivered…

…well, signed at least. I went to Sherlock Homes (OMG I love a cheesy pun!) to sort out the contract for my new house. They weren’t as competent as JP Brimelow, but they made Ben look like the fool he really is. I handed over copies of various documents, signed contracts and paid for my background checks. Fingers crossed!

Kate and I went to Electrik for a couple of drinks. She’s very excited about her new job at Oddest, and was talking about the different possibilities that it held for her. “So this place is the competition?” I asked. “No,” she replied, “this place is part of the community.” I’m sure she’ll do very well.

We picked up mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and more mushrooms, and went back to Great Stone to make Simon Rimmer’s Oriental Pie. It was very tasty. Chaw and Matt arrived later on, and we sat around the table chatting as they ate. Kate whipped out an apple pie. With cinnamon cream. Yum! We plotted my arrival, and what to do with my dining table. One word kept on coming up… BANQUET!