bits and pieces of everything

i'm sitting in The Bar at Fact, where i've been getting my "regular" WiFi access for the past 2 days. it's free, there are good drinks, and when i'm feeling bored i can just hop into the cinema for a movie. today, Batman Begins is playing, as is War of the Worlds, and some independent film from Spain about a man and his dog. oh, and Madagascar is showing too! have you seen that? it's really funny, and slightly disturbing, but good fun, overall. there's also an exhibition called the Agony and the Ecstasy on, which features horrific pieces, and explores how people react to them. i actually went to see this last week (i spend a lot of time here, and probably will be spending a lot more time here, since it has free WiFi) and made friends with the exhibition guide, who, since there weren't many people at the show, had a lot of free time on her hands. we chatted about the exhibition, and this week she passed me her notes on the artists, and the pieces. there is also a rather drunk man sitting at the next table, who has had one too many glasses of wine. he chuckles every now and then (well actually more often than that), rants quietly about something in English, then in French, probably because there's a French CD playing now.

it's great having internet at home, but this is way more interesting.

i'm going to London a week from today. Friday night i'll be attending a 70's / 80's themed party that a friend of a friend is throwing, and on Saturday we'll be going for a 10-hour gig at the park. i'm blurry on the details, because i've left all the buying of tickets / arrangements to her, and i'm just going along for the ride. Sunday i'm hoping to catch this exhibition at the Tate Modern. so this time next week i'll be on a London-bound train for what's looking to be a fabulous weekend! i haven't told my parents yet, partly because all plans were just finalised today, but mostly (well, all) because i know they'll just freak out about how unsafe it is. i don't plan to tell them. so, dear blog-readers, please pray that my secret excursion goes smoothly, and that no crazy terrorists decide to blow up any more tubes / busses / cabs / clubs, because i don't want to have my parents go "i told you so" at my funeral.

oh, and because i just overheard someone mentioning this, how stoked am i about the new Harry Potter book that's coming out tomorrow? ecstatic! i pre-ordered my copy at Waterstone's last month, so i'll be picking mine up tomorrow, and not queueing up with hundreds of others for the release at midnight tonight, because i'm not that much of a geek.

so this weekend's looking to be pretty great too. with my brand-new story book (which i have a feeling will distract me from the rest of life) and my friend Lauren's baby shower this Sunday! i'm especially excited for her, because i remember how badly she's wanted this baby. and if that little girl ever makes life hell for her mum (though i'm sure she won't, with a cool mum like Lauren's going to be) i'll tell her all about the tears shed, and the prayers prayed, all for her to come to be.

have great weekends everyone!