Shopping, Champagne and Lou
Let me apologise in advance for the next post. This is one of those "I did this then we did that" posts. I don't normally write them, but yesterday I never want to forget. And my memory is horrendous at the best of times. So here we go:
Oh WOW! Yesterday was like, the best day Ever =)
Let me give you a quick bit of background. Lou is probably the girl I have the most respect for out of the whole group. She's a really incredible person and she's so strong it amazes me.
But gods she can be a handful if she chooses to be. She especially enjoys hassling JP, as I'm sure he will testify should you ask him. She'll deny the lot and tell you "But I'm lovely". Don't believe a word.
So because of this I think "I'll get an early night tonight" on friday and hit the hay at 10pm. However, my useless body-clock isn't used to having more than 6 hours sleep on a Friday night. So at 4am on Saturday I'm wide awake. Tried going back to sleep, but to no avail. My PC was snarled up defragmenting itself so gaming wasn't an option.
Did some dull stuff before boredom took over and it was off to Derby at 9am. Lou was getting in at 1015am so I had a while to wander round. Got some awesome new jeans, which I changed into in the Maccy D's toilets. What? I wanted to wear them.
Met up with Lou and we headed into Notts. Lou was in a wondeful mood that day. She was just so full of happiness and we spent the whole day talking about anything and everything. When we got to Notts we worked out what each of us were shopping for. Lou wanted some "random stuff" and I was looking for patches. We also both wanted to do some exploring. We always go to Notts in big groups (normally 6+) so with it being just us 2 we had a lot more freedom to actually go Into shops rather than window shop.
On the Red Arrow, Lou saw something in the man in front of us newspaper about a cannibal being retrialed for murder. I could see her struggling to read it so I leaned over and started reading it to her. My eyesight is Amazing. Then, about halfway through the article I think the man noticed. Oops. =) He ruffled his paper and turned the page. he also shot me a nasty look. I blamed Lou entirely. ^_^
Got into Notts and went through the Victoria centre and wandered around a little. We ended up going down this bit we've never found before. OMGs - There's a Tesco in the Victoria. It's huge and we never even knew it was there. Then we found a blue lift. It didn't smell blue. I was disappointed. And when we got off the blue lift, we were right back at where we'd come in. Lou suggested we go round giving the stores deja-vu so we did. Don't know how well it worked though but it was fun =)
We also went into John Lewis. To put it simply: bizarre objects, insane (4 figure) prices. We must have looked so... odd. Me at least. Let me give you the image as it becomes a running theme:
Me in a System Of A Down hoodie, my hair in a state, jeans with a chain hanging down to just above my knees, and considerable stubble on my face. I have the real "greasy greb" look happening. Lou is in her Nightmare Before Christmas top and jeans. She looks nicer (but she always does). Both of us, in one of the poshest shops you've ever seen. ^_^ I wish I could have seen the reaction of some of the snobs, just for giggles.
So that was fun. Lou wants to collect clocks. There were some really weird clocks there. I don't like Lou's creepy clocks. But I want to go live at her house when she gets one. She's gonna jam it full of all that really weird stuff. And some people will pay £6 for a dustpan and brush.
We left John Lewis and went into a few more shops. Then we went into the Arcade. It's this cluster of really posh shops. And I Mean posh. There's one we always walk pass which sells artwork. As it was just us two we went in. This woman said "hi" to us and Lou said "hi" back. Lou's a waitress so she responds well to total strangers. Then the woman offered us champagne. There was an art exhibition on the other floor so they were offering champagne. I believe her words were "We're using it as an excuse to drink." And any excuse is a good excuse. I don't like Champagne but Lou does. We went downstairs.
Wow there was some good art down there. Normally I'm never the kind of person who can appreciate art. I can't stand that crappy "modern art" and the classic portraits just bore me. But Lou seems to bring out an appreciation. We have very similar tastes in a few aspects. We both like the stuff that's a lot deeper than what it first seems like and also the stuff which... I dunno how to explain it. The stuff that makes an impact on you. The art down there consisted mostly of pictures in the same style. The painting would be mostly just a white/grey background and then one highly detailed, but small, charachter around the bottom. It just projected that feeling of loneliness. Lou was astounded. I was impressed.
It should be pointed out here that Lou Always vocalises her opinion and she was doing just that. For a change her opinions were positive and this other woman overheard us both talking about it and started talking to us. I let Lou do the talking, I had seized up. I don't talk well to total strangers and I did kinda feel outta place. Lou and this woman talked for a little bit about the art, what they both liked, that it was our first time really looking around, and then the woman asked.
"Which universities do you both go to?"
"Err... We don't." I told her, somewhat embarassed.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I'm just finishing 6th Form and this one's not even finished her GCSE's." Then I realised what Lou was holding. Her champagne glass. I put my hand over the glass. "But don't tell anyone." I joked.
The woman apologised for putting us as a lot older than we actually were, not that either of us were particuarly upset, and proceeded to talk a little more about Lou's art GCSE. I'm just it was Lou she was talking to. I've not touched art since year 9.
So that was fun. And it's not even been 2 hours yet. Lou is a slow drinker but wanted to move on so she put the champagne down and we headed off.
We went looking for Motel, a clothes store. Yeah, I gave her a funny look too when she told me she "needed to go to motel." We were on the bus and well... my head put an "a" in there out of default. I think the blank, slightly worried look I gave her was why she told me it was a clothes store.
Wandered up and down this hill looking for motel. And we saw this awesome wood barrier, fencing off a construction site. All over it was these architechture quotes. I tried reading it all but it gave me a headache. It was insane. Wish I had had a camera to show it you.
We found Motel and did some more wandering. Another place of note is this designer furntiture store we found. Another ultra posh shop having a greasy greb and "Lovely" Lou trapsing round it =)
But this place was also amazing. Everything was in that ultra modern look. And some of the paintings were stupid. I still don't know how that picture was a fox. But I found this oh-so comfy couch thing. I sat in it and it did nothing short of verbally pleading with me to relax into it. It was amazing. If I had one I'd probably never get up from it. Seeing some of those rooms made Lou's future home seem all the more interesting.
Lunch. Went to our favorite restaurant. This really nice Chinese just off the Square. Was my turn to buy the drinks. Me and Lou have this thing where we get Sweet & Sour Chicken and rice, share it and the cost between us both, and the one who paid £1.95 instead of £2 buys the drinks. Aren't we interesting =)
More browsing and wandering. Neither of us have bought anything yet, apart from me and my jeans in Derby, so we decided to start shopping. I needed patches so it was off to the Cluster as I now call it. The Cluster is a group of shops which cater for the alternative tastes. Retro gamers, heavy metal, indy, army, those kind of stores. But they were all shut. I was disappointed (again).
So after that I treated myself and Lou to an ice cream. We sat in the Square for a bit and just watched the people mingle. I don't really care why, but more people seem to keep looking at me. I guess the mess on my head will draw the odd, apalled, stare.
So delicious ice-cream consumed it was off to Glad Rags. They've not improved, sadly. There's nothing there I really like. I might buy that Linkin Park banner though. But I'll need £10 just burning a hole in my pocket.
We hit all the usual stores but nothing really grabbed either of our attentions.
We wandered more and found ourselves in Fopps. Or something like that. Huge CD/DVD/Book store. A few books caught Lou's attention; this really good art one, a story she's been wanting to read and "The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy" by Tim Burton. We decided to browse more before buying.
We did some more looking and browsing and then realised it was almost 5pm. We realised we'd done all the browsing we could and so started spending. Lou got some stuff she'd seen in the other stores and got the books from Fopps. I couldn't decide between "Battle Royale" and "Audition" DVDs. They're both from Japan with subtitles. I've got Battle Royale, albeit stored on my PC, so I knew it was good, but Audition sounded like one of those really creepy movies which I really love.
I got neither. I'll get them both when I next go in and have more money.
And so my day with Lou came to a close. We hopped on the Red Arrow back home and snagged the back seat. It was amazing. We'd spent longer in Notthingham as just the pair of us than we ever had with the whole group by a good few hours. On the way back I tried to talk Lou into joining the rest of us down at the River Gardens but she's not so used to being on her feet and was too drained. I was saddened but understood.
We looked at her new "Art Now" book. Some of the art was really good again. We just looked at pictures and finished it before we got back to Derby. As George Bush Jr. put it so aptly "the best thing about books is looking at the pictures". =)
What, you think I could write this much without slipping in one political statement?
Anyway, we got back to Derby and onto the Transpeak home. Lou read TMDOOB to me on the way there. It's a really good book and incredibly well written. On the surface it can seem very silly, almost juvinielle I guess. But if you look just that little bit deeper, discover the hidden meanings, it's actually very adult and quite depressing. What no one can argue about is that it's short.
It was a perfect length though, Lou finished reading to me just as we got into Belper. I thanked her for such a good day, hugged, and hopped off the bus. With quite the smile on my face.
So that was my day with Lou. I met up with the rest of the gang and spent some time down at the River Gardens. It was fun. But I think I've written enough for one post.
Oh WOW! Yesterday was like, the best day Ever =)
Let me give you a quick bit of background. Lou is probably the girl I have the most respect for out of the whole group. She's a really incredible person and she's so strong it amazes me.
But gods she can be a handful if she chooses to be. She especially enjoys hassling JP, as I'm sure he will testify should you ask him. She'll deny the lot and tell you "But I'm lovely". Don't believe a word.
So because of this I think "I'll get an early night tonight" on friday and hit the hay at 10pm. However, my useless body-clock isn't used to having more than 6 hours sleep on a Friday night. So at 4am on Saturday I'm wide awake. Tried going back to sleep, but to no avail. My PC was snarled up defragmenting itself so gaming wasn't an option.
Did some dull stuff before boredom took over and it was off to Derby at 9am. Lou was getting in at 1015am so I had a while to wander round. Got some awesome new jeans, which I changed into in the Maccy D's toilets. What? I wanted to wear them.
Met up with Lou and we headed into Notts. Lou was in a wondeful mood that day. She was just so full of happiness and we spent the whole day talking about anything and everything. When we got to Notts we worked out what each of us were shopping for. Lou wanted some "random stuff" and I was looking for patches. We also both wanted to do some exploring. We always go to Notts in big groups (normally 6+) so with it being just us 2 we had a lot more freedom to actually go Into shops rather than window shop.
On the Red Arrow, Lou saw something in the man in front of us newspaper about a cannibal being retrialed for murder. I could see her struggling to read it so I leaned over and started reading it to her. My eyesight is Amazing. Then, about halfway through the article I think the man noticed. Oops. =) He ruffled his paper and turned the page. he also shot me a nasty look. I blamed Lou entirely. ^_^
Got into Notts and went through the Victoria centre and wandered around a little. We ended up going down this bit we've never found before. OMGs - There's a Tesco in the Victoria. It's huge and we never even knew it was there. Then we found a blue lift. It didn't smell blue. I was disappointed. And when we got off the blue lift, we were right back at where we'd come in. Lou suggested we go round giving the stores deja-vu so we did. Don't know how well it worked though but it was fun =)
We also went into John Lewis. To put it simply: bizarre objects, insane (4 figure) prices. We must have looked so... odd. Me at least. Let me give you the image as it becomes a running theme:
Me in a System Of A Down hoodie, my hair in a state, jeans with a chain hanging down to just above my knees, and considerable stubble on my face. I have the real "greasy greb" look happening. Lou is in her Nightmare Before Christmas top and jeans. She looks nicer (but she always does). Both of us, in one of the poshest shops you've ever seen. ^_^ I wish I could have seen the reaction of some of the snobs, just for giggles.
So that was fun. Lou wants to collect clocks. There were some really weird clocks there. I don't like Lou's creepy clocks. But I want to go live at her house when she gets one. She's gonna jam it full of all that really weird stuff. And some people will pay £6 for a dustpan and brush.
We left John Lewis and went into a few more shops. Then we went into the Arcade. It's this cluster of really posh shops. And I Mean posh. There's one we always walk pass which sells artwork. As it was just us two we went in. This woman said "hi" to us and Lou said "hi" back. Lou's a waitress so she responds well to total strangers. Then the woman offered us champagne. There was an art exhibition on the other floor so they were offering champagne. I believe her words were "We're using it as an excuse to drink." And any excuse is a good excuse. I don't like Champagne but Lou does. We went downstairs.
Wow there was some good art down there. Normally I'm never the kind of person who can appreciate art. I can't stand that crappy "modern art" and the classic portraits just bore me. But Lou seems to bring out an appreciation. We have very similar tastes in a few aspects. We both like the stuff that's a lot deeper than what it first seems like and also the stuff which... I dunno how to explain it. The stuff that makes an impact on you. The art down there consisted mostly of pictures in the same style. The painting would be mostly just a white/grey background and then one highly detailed, but small, charachter around the bottom. It just projected that feeling of loneliness. Lou was astounded. I was impressed.
It should be pointed out here that Lou Always vocalises her opinion and she was doing just that. For a change her opinions were positive and this other woman overheard us both talking about it and started talking to us. I let Lou do the talking, I had seized up. I don't talk well to total strangers and I did kinda feel outta place. Lou and this woman talked for a little bit about the art, what they both liked, that it was our first time really looking around, and then the woman asked.
"Which universities do you both go to?"
"Err... We don't." I told her, somewhat embarassed.
"Oh."
"Yeah. I'm just finishing 6th Form and this one's not even finished her GCSE's." Then I realised what Lou was holding. Her champagne glass. I put my hand over the glass. "But don't tell anyone." I joked.
The woman apologised for putting us as a lot older than we actually were, not that either of us were particuarly upset, and proceeded to talk a little more about Lou's art GCSE. I'm just it was Lou she was talking to. I've not touched art since year 9.
So that was fun. And it's not even been 2 hours yet. Lou is a slow drinker but wanted to move on so she put the champagne down and we headed off.
We went looking for Motel, a clothes store. Yeah, I gave her a funny look too when she told me she "needed to go to motel." We were on the bus and well... my head put an "a" in there out of default. I think the blank, slightly worried look I gave her was why she told me it was a clothes store.
Wandered up and down this hill looking for motel. And we saw this awesome wood barrier, fencing off a construction site. All over it was these architechture quotes. I tried reading it all but it gave me a headache. It was insane. Wish I had had a camera to show it you.
We found Motel and did some more wandering. Another place of note is this designer furntiture store we found. Another ultra posh shop having a greasy greb and "Lovely" Lou trapsing round it =)
But this place was also amazing. Everything was in that ultra modern look. And some of the paintings were stupid. I still don't know how that picture was a fox. But I found this oh-so comfy couch thing. I sat in it and it did nothing short of verbally pleading with me to relax into it. It was amazing. If I had one I'd probably never get up from it. Seeing some of those rooms made Lou's future home seem all the more interesting.
Lunch. Went to our favorite restaurant. This really nice Chinese just off the Square. Was my turn to buy the drinks. Me and Lou have this thing where we get Sweet & Sour Chicken and rice, share it and the cost between us both, and the one who paid £1.95 instead of £2 buys the drinks. Aren't we interesting =)
More browsing and wandering. Neither of us have bought anything yet, apart from me and my jeans in Derby, so we decided to start shopping. I needed patches so it was off to the Cluster as I now call it. The Cluster is a group of shops which cater for the alternative tastes. Retro gamers, heavy metal, indy, army, those kind of stores. But they were all shut. I was disappointed (again).
So after that I treated myself and Lou to an ice cream. We sat in the Square for a bit and just watched the people mingle. I don't really care why, but more people seem to keep looking at me. I guess the mess on my head will draw the odd, apalled, stare.
So delicious ice-cream consumed it was off to Glad Rags. They've not improved, sadly. There's nothing there I really like. I might buy that Linkin Park banner though. But I'll need £10 just burning a hole in my pocket.
We hit all the usual stores but nothing really grabbed either of our attentions.
We wandered more and found ourselves in Fopps. Or something like that. Huge CD/DVD/Book store. A few books caught Lou's attention; this really good art one, a story she's been wanting to read and "The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy" by Tim Burton. We decided to browse more before buying.
We did some more looking and browsing and then realised it was almost 5pm. We realised we'd done all the browsing we could and so started spending. Lou got some stuff she'd seen in the other stores and got the books from Fopps. I couldn't decide between "Battle Royale" and "Audition" DVDs. They're both from Japan with subtitles. I've got Battle Royale, albeit stored on my PC, so I knew it was good, but Audition sounded like one of those really creepy movies which I really love.
I got neither. I'll get them both when I next go in and have more money.
And so my day with Lou came to a close. We hopped on the Red Arrow back home and snagged the back seat. It was amazing. We'd spent longer in Notthingham as just the pair of us than we ever had with the whole group by a good few hours. On the way back I tried to talk Lou into joining the rest of us down at the River Gardens but she's not so used to being on her feet and was too drained. I was saddened but understood.
We looked at her new "Art Now" book. Some of the art was really good again. We just looked at pictures and finished it before we got back to Derby. As George Bush Jr. put it so aptly "the best thing about books is looking at the pictures". =)
What, you think I could write this much without slipping in one political statement?
Anyway, we got back to Derby and onto the Transpeak home. Lou read TMDOOB to me on the way there. It's a really good book and incredibly well written. On the surface it can seem very silly, almost juvinielle I guess. But if you look just that little bit deeper, discover the hidden meanings, it's actually very adult and quite depressing. What no one can argue about is that it's short.
It was a perfect length though, Lou finished reading to me just as we got into Belper. I thanked her for such a good day, hugged, and hopped off the bus. With quite the smile on my face.
So that was my day with Lou. I met up with the rest of the gang and spent some time down at the River Gardens. It was fun. But I think I've written enough for one post.
posted by deleted at 6:20 PM
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