Winding down

One of the few benefits of working like a nutter throughout the year is that you end up with a crazy amount of holiday (or 'leave,' as it's now called, apparently) at the end of the year. In years gone by this hasn't necessarily been a good thing, because I've always been busy-busy in the lead-up to Christmas - but this year is a different matter entirely, because we've just pretty much finished the last issue of our UK magazine. That being the case, I've got some bits to tidy up for our lovely Japanese colleagues, then it's Christmas good times, baby!

*Braces self for Christmas good times*

So with all this holiday that simply has to be taken, I find myself looking forward to a three-day week next week, a four-day week the following week, then - gasp, however will I cope - a full week, before finishing on the 14th and not having to go back until January 2nd. Pysche! I've even decided not to crack open my Smallville Season Six boxset just so I've got something to do while rattling around Sparky Towers while enjoying my copious amount of days off. Exciting, huh? I might even become a recluse. A sexy recluse.

Anyway, the result of all this is that I'm sorta beginning to feel a little bit Christmassy already, which totally goes against my self-imposed December 1st Christmas embargo. I even ordered one of these. You should definitely watch the little video of it - I thought it would be quite sedate, but it totally kicks off - it'll look like I'm holding a rave! I'm also considering popping up town one night in the next couple of weeks to wander around and stare at the Christmas lights in awe, despite the fact that the last time I did that it was raining heavily and I thought they were shit. Actually, it's probably best I don't go up town, because 'looking at the Christmas lights' would quickly and inevitably turn into 'going into the Apple Store and buying an iPhone,' which I will do at some point, just not yet (at least that's what I keep telling myself - be strong!).

Oh, on the subject of Apple-based goodness, have I said how much I love my new iMac? Every time I use it something new and exciting becomes apparent. Dedicated iTunes buttons on the slimline keyboard? Awesome. In fact, the keyboard on its own is a work of art, and I'm beginning to find the clunky old one at work a bit difficult to use; those raised up buttons that go clickety-clackety when I type? Very irritating!

Anyway, back to Christmas. I'm actually planning to do another big Christmas jaunt to Kingston next week to finish off my festive shopping. Part of that means I need to gauge how many cards and rolls of paper I need to buy, which means, I suppose, that I should probably start wrapping. Good grief. On the plus side, though, at least when my brother pops over I won't have to keep screaming "NO - WAIT!" every time he tries to go upstairs…

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One hilarious result of having it a bit easier at work is the fact that I have a little time to scour the internet; don't judge me - I regard web-surfing as my version of taking a cigarette break. I just disengage brain for a short while. Anyway, today I took to clicking on random links for clothing, and I eventually ended up at the website for American Apparel, which is the company that made my lovely free Apple OSX t-shirt. I've been meaning to check out some of their other clothes for a while now because I'm always interested in reasonably-priced hoodies and plain t-shirts, and I've been on the lookout for a top like this for a while now. Whatever the clothes are like, though, the best part of this store are the reviews, which almost had me choking on a fun-size Mars bar; among my favourite comments were "it's alright if you wear something underneath, or if you don't care that your nips are visible," and "HI NIPPLES!"

My all-time favourite, however, was the sole review for the recycled cotton-acrylic blend pom-pom beanie.

I totally want to be friends with whoever wrote that.