Back home

Homeward bound is my facebook status at the moment, and here I am with my brother sitting at the computer.

We are discussing what film to watch, its cold outside and I'm enjoying not being at work.

That's the strange thing about work - its leaves little time for a social life! So now I'm off work for some time, I'm enjoying it a lot.

I've got lots of plans for my time down here in the south - bowling with brothers, eating out and maybe watching a film at the cinema. :-)

But now the computer is needed for someone else, so Adios.

:-)

Pjamas?!

Up here there is a bit of a fashion to go out with your pjamas on! I have just come back from the shops and seen two girls in pjs walking back into their house.

So I was thinking, why would you do this? Well here are some thoughts that might have been going through their minds:

"I'm really tired so I'll pop out to the shops and then be able to go to sleep straightaway when I get back".

"I've literally got no clothes so I have to go out in these..."

"I'm so pleased with these new pjamas I want everyone to see them so I'm going to 'go public' in them."

Well - I still reckon its pretty weird!

It looks like I'm sticking to the informal rule of only writing on this every month - not intentional honest.

Anyway, adios for now.

Sunday views from the north.

Sitting here infront of my computer its easy to write on this. But there are quite a few occasions when I think about something, and I say to myself - I really want to write on my blog about that. But I don't have a pen on me and I can't write it on my phone, so often the thoughts have to remain just that, and stay in my head.

But anyway since I'm here now, I can write about going to see Up, the new Pixar film.

I'm quite a fan of Pixar, but I reckon this was the best one yet.

It was funny, but still made a point, which is not the case with all of them - I thought Ratatouille was good, but not quite as thoughtful as Toy Story or Up.

The animation was, as usual, first class.

And it was just plain funny! Which is always good for a film I reckon. If only the seats had a bit more legroom, then the cinema experience would have been pretty much perfect.

Adios.

Holiday!

I've been on holiday this week.

I came down south and experienced all the joys of warm weather, beaches, and old friends.

Back to work next week, but its not with a dread that I'm going back up to Newcastle. No I like living there, and am really starting to feel at home there!

And that is quite a surprise given that 3 months ago I didn't know anyone, or where I was going to live!

p.s - full-time work holiday is really different to uni holiday! Shorter, but sweeter as a result.

Is it really "grim up north"?

Newcastle.

It seems a long way away sometimes, especially on weather maps! The BBC forecast is often "so there will be plenty of sunshine in the South East, particularly focusing on Canterbury, but the North East will be 12C with a strong westerly wind." (Well not quite, but it is amazing how often the South East is so much warmer than here!)

But even if that idea of Newcastle is true, the idea that it's "grim" up here is not true!

In fact I was down in London the other day and thinking about how that felt quite different to Newcastle. The night atmosphere here is much more vibrant - kind of fresh and new and exciting. London seems not to have that; almost like 'this is something we've always done, its a bit of a grind being out, but lets do it anyway'!

Maybe thats because people come here for Hen and Stag parties and so are exploring the city for the first time.

I finally got my graduation DVD through today!

It has taken a lot longer than they said it would which is really annoying. I often came back from work hoping it'd be there, but it never was, until today.

Uni does feel like a long time ago now. With friends going back soon, I am missing it, but pleased to be here as well.

Right. Its ten past ten. Time for the working man (that's me) to sign off. So until next time... happy living.

(Maybe I should develop a goodbye phrase - what do you reckon?!)

It's sunny, it's a Saturday, and this is Sam's blog about a stupendous day.

I've had a truly brilliant day.

Saturdays mean a whole lot more when you're working office hours the rest of the week. Today felt really long, which was nice.

The sun was shining and it was warm, which isn't that normal for up here, whatever the locals tell you...

I was with family friends and had a quiet morning watching Everybody loves Raymond (which i... love...) and enjoying not being at work really early!

And then I decided to discover the METRO CENTRE...

Now, if you have been doing some research, or reading these posts carefully, you will know that Newcastle is very fond of the word "Metro".

Its underground trains are called the Metro, there is the Metro music venue, the Metro Centre, and probably a dodgy pizza place called "Metropizza" as well.

But anyway, the Metro Centre is a large shopping centre (the biggest in the North East, England, Europe, the galaxy... take your pick) and is actually in GATESHEAD. So I made a mistake above.

People in Gateshead are understandably keen to point out that many of the newly built attractions - the Sage concert theatre, the Baltic (a modern art gallery) and the Metro Centre, are all in Gateshead, and not Newcastle.

This place is indeed massive - red zone, blue zone, green zone, yellow zone, central arcade. All on two levels - and loads of shops.

I bought a few small things - some nice pens and a holder to brighten my desk, and a very swish bedside light. It really is very nice. Very nice. I like it. :-)

And then I came out into more sunshine and warmth to watch football on the tele.

Newcastle were playing, live on BBC 1 - which was exciting. And as a new Newcastler, I was supporting them - they drew sadly, and were wearing a horrendous yellow striped shirt. It really is awful.

I also enjoyed a lovely piece of salmon, and homemade chips, and watched Total Wipeout.

Total Wipeout is a programme I don't think I'll find funny every time I watch it, but I do. Its just brilliant!

So, a lovely day, and now off to sleep. :-)

New layout

I'm trying a new layout. What do you think?