Today's question caught my eye

Is there any song you could listen to 20 times in a day without ever losing interest?

When I find a song I like, I'd easily listen to it 10 times that day. I think 13 is my record. I have to stop myself listening to it more than that, because I'm scared I will lose interest. I never do with the really good songs though. With the truly amazing ones, I can listen to them 30+ times in the first week and still love them. These are the songs that end up with 100+ playcounts on itunes (after a year or so).

There is one song, though, that I listened to about 80 times in 2 months - Another Take, by Cork band, Waiting Room. I've listened to it 132 times in total. And still, every time it comes on I get shivers. I love it.

And since I've not done it in a while - here's a run down of my top 10 most listened to songs. Number of listens in brackets.

Sail to the Moon (Brush the Cobwebs Out of the Sky) - Radiohead (155)
Rose - A Perfect Circle (145)
Son et Lumiere - The Mars Volta (135)
Another Take - Waiting Room (132)
Fingerbib - Aphex Twin (126)
Modern Romance - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (116)
Teenager - Deftones (115)
California Waiting - Kings of Leon (111)
Televators - The Mars Volta (106)
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie - A Perfect Circle (104) (I honestly don't know how this song is in number 10)

cycle to the park

what is it with me not posting for a while and then making two or three posts in a day? oh well.

yesterday, i wanted to cycle to the park, but it was too windy. i kinda regretted not going, because it was a beautiful day and the warm weather isn't meant to last after the weekend. today was equally beautiful, and slightly less windy (still a bit windy) so i went to the park today. it's 5km away (5.1 according to google, 5.3 according to my bike). it was a wonderful cycle. google chose a route for me that didn't involve too many hills (there was just one steep one). the park was nice, but the moment i got there the sun went in. and it stayed in until i decided to leave.
i was on my bike, just accelerating to go home, when the sun came out. so i plonked myself on some (very prickly, dry) grass and sat in the sun for a bit. i watched small clouds and smaller aeroplanes (airplanes?) cross the sky. eventually the wind got a bit cold, though, so then i went home properly. i have no idea how long i stayed. not that long. i left at quarter past 1, and was home at quarter past 3. i was cycling for 45 minutes. so that makes... an hour and a bit. mad.
it was lovely to sit outside in the warm sunshine, though.

right so. i'm going to go now.

chipmunks

There's chipmunks or something in the ditch across from our balcony. they are so cute - like little squirrels with stripes. I just looked them up on wikipedia - they are chipmunks. how cute. Wikipedia describes them as squirrels with stripes - that's so funny.

here are some photos

Spring is giving us a taste of its wonderfulness

I've been watching the weather for the last 2 weeks - watching today's forecast go from 17 to 11 to 14 to 19 to 13. Seems the weather people have a hard time forecasting temperatures. But since that first 17, I've been looking forward to today, because from that first 17, I believed today would be wonderful.

Today dawned (well, I have no idea how it dawned, but when I got up at 9 it was...) cloudy. And I felt cheated. The forecast had settled on 18, but what good was it if it was cloudy?

Roll on a few hours and the clouds had all been burned away. So I went outside, and I stayed outside for 2 hours. I didn't want to come in. I went for a walk, and then came home and took my bike out for a stroll-cycle*. It was wonderful. Warm, sunny, the most refreshing breeze. The sound of dogs barking, a plane flying around somewhere. It felt and smelled and sounded like summer. I had to keep reminding myself that this was spring and summer would be unbearable, so enjoy it now. And that's what I think I'll do.

I got slightly sunburned yesterday. The kind of burn that heals overnight. But still - we were out for about and hour and a half yesterday (about 40 minutes spend stilling outside having lunch - it was amazing).

I have the balcony door open and the kitchen window open and there's a very light breeze going through the place. I have griddle bread on the pan, and everything is good. The funny thing is, our little thermometer is only reading 14.

Actually, I meant to add - my walk was to the shop to buy sun cream and aftersun. Hee.


*a stroll-cycle is one where you pedal the bear minimum to keep yourself going. you let gravity do most of your work.

My Writing Area

My computer desk faces a wall, a depressing, grey wall. Today I fixed that by putting these photos up, and brightening up the whole space a bit.
The sculptures are by Rik Allen. They are pretty cool, and interesting to have in front of me whenever I look away from my computer.

I don't have much other news.

another another cold update

okay - last update. it turns out our heating was broken (i had no idea). a man just came to look at the water tank and he said he fixed it and that in 2 hours i can turn on the heating. amazing. and there was me just having the heating off because i thought it was inefficient.
but at least we should be able to get the place a bit warm tonight. and maybe i can have a shower. i skipped a shower this morning because it was way too cold.

I'm finally warm

So, now I'm wearing a scarf and a sleeping bag from my waist down and i am finally warm. my fingers and nose are still cold, but at least i'm not shivering anymore. i'm thinking i'll try the heating again this evening, because the place will be doubly cold if i leave it off all day today and tomorrow.

it seems it's going to be freezing until next week, and remaining very cold for the next few weeks. roll on spring and warm temps.

another cold update

The heating has stopped heating up the place now. The temperature is not going higher than 14, so i turned the heating off, because it was doing nothing but creating a draft. i actually think i'll start to feel warmer now. i can heat the little bit of air around me and that can work as insulation. if it's going to be this cold tomorrow, i might consider relocating to a café or something.

i might make something with bucket-loads of chilli for lunch. and something really warm.

i'm cold

okay, now i am very cold. i've had the heating on for three hours and it's only 14 degrees in here. i have on the amazing fuzzy jumper of central heating and it's barely working to keep me warm. my legs are freezing, my fingers are freezing. my nose is cold - every breath in is cold. i wonder would i be better off standing outside in the sun. i wish the apartment didn't face north.

It is cold

Sure enough, it got to -20 last night. I'm just back from a wander around in -18 temperature. It wasn't that bad. I had 6 layers on my top, knee-high socks, jeans, 2 pairs of gloves, a scarf around my face and a hat. The only place that wasn't layered up was a small strip around my thighs, which is very cold.

So, -18 with sunshine is very comfortable (far too hot for 6 layers, actually). -18 in the shade is okay - i wouldn't want to stay out in it all day - at least not wearing jeans. -2 on a damp, windy night in ireland is far worse. the cold here is a weak sort of cold - timid. cold in ireland cuts with the sharpest of blades, then twists that blade inside you. here the cold just sort of hangs around and waves at you like someone who's waving because they feel they should, not out of any real conviction.

it's 10 degrees in the apartment. i have 3 layers on, including fingerless gloves. my arms above the gloves are cold, though. i might put on some arm warmers. arm warmers are go. my arms are warm now. now i feel like putting my hat back on.
hmmm. maybe the cold here has a lingering effect. no - i think it's just 'cause the apartment is so cold.

anyway, i'm going to go now.

Writing Troubles

This week has been slower than most. Usually by Wednesday I've picked up my pace after the weekend, and things start to get written. Not this week. I'm only a thousand and a bit words into this chapter (and my 5,000 per week). I have a lot to get done tomorrow and Friday, and I'm just not inspired by this scene at all. It's fine, but it seems so forced. It's a way to get from A to B. I've changed things around a bit and it's better than my original idea, but still.

I like Lj's spring banner. It's bright and cute. And it suits the rest of the site.

It got down to -11 last night. There is ice on the inside of the window again. I went out for a bit today (about 5 minutes) and my nose and fingers were freezing. It was -9 at that stage. It's -10 now. Brrrr. But it's sunny and the snow is melting. Wait... the snow is melting at -10? How does that work? The forecast is giving -20 for tonight. -20. Seriously.
I put an extra blanket on the bed last night - it was doubled over so that was two extra layers, and I was toasty, but not roasting. So if it's going to be double what it was from 0 last night tonight (writing how you speak doesn't really work at all - just focus on the next few words), I'm going to have to put on 4 blankets or something.
Earlier this week the forecast was giving 17 for later in the month. That's gone now. 11 is the highest. No, wait. It's 14.

Can you tell I'm just wasting time now?

What other news? We went walking on volcanoes on Saturday. It was good. The climate here is amazing. It's like being on another planet. The grass is yellow and the sky is the deepest shade of blue.

Right, so. I'll go now.