gratiartis.org - archive 2002

the WGW 2002 gallery has arrived

24 November 2002 - At last after a few weeks of procrastinating, I have sorted out a small gallery of photos from the Whitby Gothic Weekend 2002. It's not too exciting since I didn't take many photos this time, but at least you get to see what I look like when I have dressed up a bit for a night out of gothic antics.

i have a study!

22 November 2002 - Yes I have a study ... almost. Since buying a new house, I at last have a room that I can call my own for just working in and messing about on the computers. I haven't been very reliable at answering anybody's emails over the past month or so because for a while, I was in the process of moving and had no phone line. Then I got broadband cable installed which was great. But the room I had set aside was ugly.

So over the past week, I have been redecorating. I painted the ceiling white and the walls quite a rich blue color called smalt. Last night I was busy putting up shelves to help store the numerous books that I have collected over the years. So far they have been filled with files, textbooks and a few harcover novels.

There should be room for a few more books, but I need plenty of space somewhere so that I can bring my SciFi collection from Stoke where it is currently residing in boxes in my mum's attic. I may need to put up even more shelves to provide all of those books with a home. However, I need to leave room for my CDs and HiFi which should be moving into the study and also soon, a larger desk since the current desk is nowhere near big enough for the two computers I have at the moment. Never mind the fact that I may be getting another box and I would like some desk space that isn't completely covered for just putting out papers that I'm reading and doing handwritten things (me being a luddite 'n' all).

The other thing is that I need a bit of wall space for putting a few things up. I'm hoping to have a fairly esoteric selection of such things. So far, I have a framed case containing a collection of winged beetles and another case containing two huge dung beetles. I have an Egyptian papyrus depicting (apparently) figures representing past present and future. And I also managed to find a fairly old print (1898) in York which I'm guessing must have come from a book of Japanese myths or fairy tales. It seems to show a warrior facing off against a bat which is flying in the air above, whilst a little red demon of of some sort is running away scared. I'd love to know what it is so I can try to get hold of the story and there is some text on the print. So hopefully when I get the chance, I'll scan it and put it here. That way, hopefully someone who can read Japanese will be able to provide me with a translation and perhaps might be able to tell me something about the story it is from.

mtb-thrashers.com - yet another project!

19 November 2002 - Yup ... I have yet another little web project to play with at the moment. Jon, one of the guys I head to Coed y Brenin with has set up a PostNuke site to help us keep track of events and keep in touch about our mutual hobby of mountain biking. It may be overkill for such a small group of folks, but it's fun to do and there's nothing to stop others from joining in.

So far we are working on squeezing in as much content as we can and streamlining the site. If you are interested, then come along and take a look. Any extra bodies are welcome and the next planned visit is on March 28th 2003. Well ... nobody else wants to go there when it's too cold and wet, although I quite enjoy it like that!

End of an era

12 November 2002 - Last night was the final visit to the flat in Alton. I have now moved to sunny Stevenage completely. Leanne and myself made our way there last night to pick up the final carload of junk and do a final bit of cleaning, followed by dropping off the keys at the estate agents. We didn't get home until after midnight and I had to be up at 5am in order to get to work. It was strange saying goodbye to the flat we have been renting for the past three years. I suppose I'll miss it, but it's great owning my own house now! It's a complete mess at the moment with dismantled wardrobes and plastic bags full of clothes and books, but it's so much larger and warmer.

Now I just have to make some decisions on how to decorate. My main concern is the study ... yes a study!!! I have my own little downstairs room full of computers, books and currently a bike and all sorts of other junk. I'm in need of large quantities of shelving to help sort the place out. Especially since I'll probably be bringing my collection of SciFi books down soon. Hence I need shelf space for about 200 more books. And a bit more desk space wouldn't go amiss since I cuurently have two computers sitting on a rather small table with cables trailing towards the book case where I have the printer and scanner. It's all a bit cramped at the moment.

Best of all though (priorities Steve!) is that we now have cable TV and a broadband internet connection! (^o^)

Dad is in the country

10 November 2002 - Apparently dad is in the country! He had himself released from hospital, insisting that he can now look after himself a couple of weeks ago. However, apparently he has been getting other folks to do everything for him, and hence presumably is not so capable of looking after himself as he would like us to think. Anyway, I got an email from Filiz to say that is coming to England for about a month. He is off to Oxford to visit my brother for a little bit (Ant doesn't know how long) and from what I can gather, he is planning on touring the country visiting everyone. So I expect that I'll probably hear about a visit to myself before too long ... probably at very short notice!

Whitby Gothic Weekend is over ... for me at least

04 November 2002 - Today I returned from the latest Whitby Gothic Weekend. As usual, I made my way there with Andy (aka cyberdruid) and Cat. However, this time, we also had Leanne and her sister Louise along with us. And Cat's best chum Kate was along for the ride.

The weekend kept approximately to the usual plan of meeting up on Thursday and heading off to the Elsinore for a wee tipple. It's always comforting to walk along the road towards the Elsinore and see the huge crowd of goth sorts milling in the street outside. At last we were amongst our kind. Or something like that.

Friday and Saturday evenings were spent at the pavillion for the main organised events with masses of goths dressed in all manner of outfits. Unfortunately, despite having a digital camera with me, I just didn't get around to taking many photos. But I should soon have them online once I have got my arse in gear. To make up for this lack of photographic effort, I'll keep an eye out and hopefully link to a few of the inevitable online galeries that should be cropping up shortly. It seemed that everyone there had a digital camera with them, so I'm sure there will be something on offer.

29 August 2002 - I haven't done much updating over the summer have I? Actually I haven't been very active. That's why I do so little updating. So far I haven't even been to Wales mountain biking since April. There's a plan to go back there at the end of September though. Maybe I'll be able to get a few decent digital photos of our escapades.

I have been over to Paris for a couple of weekends and should be going back again in a couple of weeks time. Unfortunately it isn't for pleasure. My dad is in hospital at the moment and I have been going to visit. He seems to be improving and his current hospital is supposed to be more of a halfway house where they concentrate on physiotherapy and getting him back to a state of health where he can go back home. Though he may have to move home: his current apartment is on the sixth floor and has no elevator.