Ali-Lou's Random Life

Today (well, yesterday as it's 2.50am)...

Wrote a letter about buttons!

Took some stuff I'd sold on ebay and the letter to post office

Bought 3 potatoes

Watched some Black Books on DVD

Sulked 'cos I hadn't done all the things I needed to.

Bought 5 films from amazon!

I think this is really worth while thing to do, an extra gift need not cost much at all, but it can make a real difference to someone. It can mean that a person gets something who would other wise get no gift at all.

I'm not condoning the commercialism so evident this time of year, it's just the thought appeals to me that a simple gesture such as going into a shop and buying a bottle of bath foam can mean that an elderly person, who has no one, will get a gift instead of no gift.

I'll find the link to put in here.

hello!

I've not been ignoring this blogging thing, that's not why I've been so stingy with the posting, it's because I've actually been busy doing things other than watching tv or randomly browsing ther internet amusing myself with snowflake generators or some other fun but pointless excercise.

I've decided to follow my childhood dream which was "make things and sell them" not the usual ambitious dream like "I want to be a airline pilot" or the impossible "I want to be Supergirl", this one I could actually do. (Look at me being all possitive, and without the drugs too )

The question is though what do I make and sell? I have tried this avenue of thought before, but I really should have researched it a bit before thinking that I could spend £200 on little tiny beads, thread then to make necklaces and make a profit And there was the time when I was given a load of glass paints and painted pretty patterns on lager glasses and sold them for £5 each as vases (less the shops 50% selling fee of course), they sold really well all summer, then the shop closed down as it couldn't survive through the winter in Whitby, and took all the stuff I had made with it.

The next year after I had made painted many vases over the winter, a bargain shop opened and sold a really similar product for 99p made in some far away place where the poor souls who actually did the work get paid a bowl of rice a day for their efforts. So that was the end of that, and my beautiful handy work wouldn't even sell at the car boot sale

***

So where did all this new enthusiasum come from? A teenage book
From one of those late night shopping sprees on amazon
It's the kind of book I wish I had when I was a teenager, I'm 31 and still learning from this book! It's called "Girlwise" by Julia DeVillers (I'll put a clicky in here, US amazon has reviews etc)

It's just so encouraging and inspires confidence to be yourself. And it's full of bit of advice and answers for those questions that never get asked. Stuff like what to do if you are someone house and clog the toilet! Also general life advice like following your dream and choosing a career, what kind of thing to wear to different types of job interview, three simple yoga poses, getting your poem/story/work published, public speaking confidence, budgeting money, changing a nappy Making your own website.

Enough of the book reveiw!

I'm off to go look on Ebay for inspiration, something I can create might make me a bit of cash! I'll think about the career another day

yeah it's the middle of the night again, I guess you could say I'm an insomnia blogger.

Things I've been doing today are:

Sold stuff on ebay ...lot more than I thought... *refuse to be ebay bore*

£ncouraged by recent success I've been busy clearing out clutter that is invading my flat.

Went to pub, and drank 2 drinks (I'm such a party animal today)

Had several vodka + cola drinks when I got home.

Watched Transporter, not excited about the sequel!

It's too late/early to be making meaningful posts

I've not been very chatty recently, my appolagies all (6) people who read this blog!

The aforementioned paint only cost £90 and I have so far painted one wall lilac, and done one coat of white satin wood on a door frame and a bit of skirting.... I have good intentions though.

I've put a few things for sale on ebay, including some boots and a leather biker jacket, I'll have to find some more stuff though as I keep buying as much as I sell, and I'll have to convince myself that just because that "GORGEOUS skirt £50 retail *BNWT*" is "£0.99" I don't actually need it, especially when the P&P charge is "£9.99"

Went to the library to return some well overdue books on Friday, and ended up spending £13 on renting DVD's. And I thought the £4.70 fine was going to break the bank. (Note to self: Putting things back on the shelf is an option.) I'm usually very good at budgeting, think I must be making up for all that self deprivation recently.

Well thats about all I have to say at the moment, maybe I'll have more to say another day when it not 6.30am I've had more than 3 hours sleep.

I went all extra girly yesterday, I went shopping and bought some clothes, another hair dye to try tone down the burgundy colour of the last one, fake tan stuff for your face, and tinted lip balm.

The hair looks a little better!

My bank balance doesn't.

Plus I'm going to the DIY shop soon to get the paint to decorate our whole flat.

Think I be selling stuff on ebay again soon.

did anyone look at the SRL web site btw?

just wondering what people thought of it

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V

Well, not much else is happening around here.

Went to dark room, made many 5x7 inch prints, to see which I like best to use for my asignment.

I have to come up with an apropriate 'visual theme' title for a few pics I select from the 100's I've taken for 'seashore' subject theme. I stared at a pile of photos all over the floor for several hours and only came up with rubbish theme names. Like 'triangular' or 'random rust' told you they were bad!

I also made contact sheets for the negs I processed on Tuesday, they ain't that bad... about 6 pics are ok!

Tommorow, laundry day. Or I'll be wearing my boyfriends clothes.

Also I dyed my hair, and it's now burgundy! Not quite what I intended. Oh well... it's different.

Need coffee

I'm having one of those days where everything I touch turns to crap

I ran a bath of cold water as the hot stopped working part way through.

I burned my micro meal.

And then I went to photo class, my films I developed were mostly crap, a lot of black squares, and grey blobs.
It took 9 attempts to find an enlager that worked and wasn't in use.
I made only 2 prints, the first time they were both on the same piece of paper due to me being crap and getting them mixed up.

The second time I tried one was ridiculously pale despite what the test strips showed. And the other had that soot-and-snow contrast effect, whatever I did with the filters to alter the grade.
So I just tried to make some contact sheets, to show thumbnials for the negs I developed today, and they came out so pale you could only just see something there.

By then I gave up. I'll try again on Thursday, I'll have 8 hours, hopefully I'll get some good results

These people build the most amazing machines, this one is fantastic the videos are a must!

Hovercraft

The Hovercraft is an all aluminum machine. Four 4 foot long pulse jet engines putting out 70 lbs of thrust provide propulsion and steering. The machine weights approximately 350 lbs.