Category: Random

Presenting a blast from the past – a snap-shot of the Barbelith Underground (neÈ Nexus) from just before Christmas 1999: Snapshot. There are many threads here that I thought were lost for ever.

I’m in a bit of a frenzy when it comes to online surveys at the moment. I can’t seem to stop wanted to categorise or re-categorise myself. I suppose it’s related to my desire to move jobs, and my attempts to refine in my mind exactly what I want from the next few years of my life. According to the Environics test (found via Metafilter) I am a Social Hedonist, which probably isn’t quite what I would have expected – particularly as in the process of undertaking the survey I had a sudden overwhelming sensation of craving a home of my own…

London is gradually waking up. The darkness of winter slows the city’s heartbeat, making our every action or movement an effort. But now things are getting brighter, the trees are on the brink of life, people seem to be slipping easily into their movements … pulsing cells of blood shaking off the lethargy of the months of hibernation.

This speed is worrying me – I leave Time Out in less than two weeks. I’m scared to leave its comfort, but the same thing that let me develop has left me finally trapped and restricted. The sadness of the situation is that it didn’t have to be like this. I could have watched the seasons shift, relaxed and happy. But circumstances and environments change. There’s no longer a place for me here.

Happy Birthday Luke.

So I’ve just finished implementing the random image placement javascript device for plasticbag.org, based upon something I worked on a very long time ago. Unfortunately, while I’ve placed images, not all of them are (let us say) bearable. More to come over the next couple of days.

For everyone who has or is about to see this episode of Buffy (seen by me this evening after everyone (but Riaz) had gone to bed), the word you might want a definition of is: fulgent:

ful·gent (fljnt, fl-)
adj. : Shining brilliantly; radiant: ìtower searchlights . . . as fulgent as half a billion candlesî (Nicholas Proffitt).

Newsflash: Prol launches Amsterdam Stories, still further extending Derek‘s burgeoning empire.

In order to more easily conceptualise the angst-ridden period in question, I have changed the picture above to reflect the period concerned. Welcome to Tom circa 1995.

At this very moment, there is a party happening in my flat. There is noise from outside my bedroom, Radiohead is playing, and people are clearly having a very good time. I too am having a good time, but there is a part of me that is dribbling with worry about the arrival of people I knew at University. One man ran into me a couple of times in embarrassing situations (like being in a play that never quite didn’t stink and involved me nearly wearing a near frock), and the other man – well I had a crush on him for about a year and a half about six years ago – a crush that I could only actually get over by prostrating myself before him (metaphorically) and sucking up the fallout like a good little bruised homosexual. They are supposed to arrive at some point this evening, and I can feel my resolve and hard won confidence seeping from my feet – sucked into the floor. I’m scared to go back out there.

Thanks for completing the survey.
Your Femininity Score is 3.75.
Your Masculinity Score is 4.95.
You are sex-typed in the masculine direction.
[Bem Sex Role Inventory via prolific.org]