Chellbian’s blog

What is the most annoying stereotype people say about the country or place where you're from?

That all the Welsh are "sheep-shaggers". Because there are more sheep than people. So annoying. Especially seeing as there are technically more sheep in England than Wales. Andmore in New Zealand than Wales. But the Welsh are still "sheep-shaggers" apparently.

I could sleep for a week. There were phonecalls to the house at 10am and to my mobile from 930 onwards, from a variety of people. I refused to answer the first few, but Tony was getting sick of being disturbed so I eventually opened my eyes to see who they were: someone from work wanting me to cover their shift (Ummm, no, I've got my own shift thanks) and someone about fixing the car (good morning, how are you, thankyou very much).

Consequently, I am sitting on the sofa, fully dressed with last night's make-up on and my hair looking rather, well, bed-head is the best term. My eyes are red and stingy. I'm in desperate need of a cuppa asap but I'm so tired and hungover that I simply cannot budge from the sofa. And, the thought of walking to work in a couple of hours is simply killing me.

*big sigh

The Angelone family certainly know how to throw a party! Homemade Italian food, wine flowing freely, posing for photographs, good company, good laughs and a little bit of SingStar to end the night. The eating I was good at, the drinking too. Pictures I posed for, of course. My singing in tune abilities however were pitiful!

You know when you're driving along in the car, singing to the radio, do you always sound good? I thought I sounded pretty good. Until I heard myself on SingStar tonight. My voice is awful hahaha!

I'm very tired now. I've ben awake for like 17.5 hours and I need to cwtch on the sofa with Tone til I fall asleep.

Night x

Just heading out the door to Louise's graduation party. Looking forward to a glass of wine or two. It's been a long day. Alarm went off at 530am and it's been non-stop since then!

Will fill you in on the details when I get home.

Byeeeeeeeeee!  :D

Photo, video or song... Show us laughter.

If you haven't already guessed, being as today is my day off, I am updating you on everything.

Films is the next topic.

Tash stayed last night, when Tony went out to Lee's. We cwtched on the sofa and finished watching What Happens in Vegas. I've now seen it twice. It's a great feel-good rom-com. I'd recommend it. It felt a little like Just Married, what with Kutcher and the whole 'marriage was a mistake' vibe. But, was good nonetheless.

Last night, we watched Juno...again. I love it. It makes me laugh and cry and long for a baby all in one go! The humour is quirky and gets me every time. It's a very well-written screenplay and, again, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Today, we are currently watching Kung Fu Panda. It's pretty amusing. I find it difficult to take kids'/ cartoon movies seriously sometimes. I've got to be in the mood. I can't empathise with the characters because, well, because they are cartoons. However, despite the disjointedness of this film today- visitors, car stuff, food- I've quite enjoyed Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black is funny, as always. Story...well, Jack Black is funny. :D

I am currently half way through this:

Before I Die

Jenny Downham

It's the story of a 16 year old girl with inoperable cancer. She knows she is going to die, soon. Instead of focussing on the illness itself, the book concentrates on the mental effect the disease has on the girl and her friends and family. It's dark. It's pessimistic. It's real. And it s the most depressing book I have ever read. It makes me feel dark when I put it down. It makes me feel down. I suppose that is the aim, to tell the readers of the reality of cancer, to  allow the reader an insight in to the world of cancer. It's a successful book, however, I don't know how much more of it I can read. I think I need to get it finished quickly, to get it over and done with. I want to finish it, but I also know it's not promoting optimism or a happy mood within me.

We had plans to spend the day together.

Breakfast together. A spin in the car. Shopping for work clothes. Sunday lunch somewhere along the way. Maybe a film.

Parking outside the house last night halted our plans. The clutch cable on the car came loose. No clutch, no gears, no go.

Therefore, our planned plans are so not happening. We were both looking forward to it. However, now that we have an excuse to do nothing, we are pretty much in the mood to do nothing. Which is just fine :)

I'll cook, we'll watch some films, finish Louise's pressie, have some cwtches... and other stuff... oh, and in amongst all this chillin', we'll try to fix the car.

Sounds like a plan :D

In 2003, the nation's favourite 100 books were documented. I hoped to have read quite a few/ the majority of them. I was disappointed, if I'm honest. Disapponted because I hadn't read most of them and disappointed because there were a large number I would never read (genre, author, boredom level, complete disinterest).

The list follows. I have highlighted the ones I have read or tried reading (in red, ironically!) and have striken (?) out the ones I would never want to waste time reading.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

I've read 38. That's not too bad really.

I wouldn't consider reading 9.

That leaves 53 books to read. I'll probably find that some of those are kids' books or fantasy (not my kind of thing), so the number might decrease further.

Hmmm..... 53 to read. Better get a-hold of them, hadn't I?

Show us two things that should never be together.