SO, after that rather long entry I should of course update on other stuff…

Returned to work on 18th ready to train replacement who was taking over my old job only to discover she had pulled out, so we interviewed two others. The ‘new’ replacement is due to start on 29th, so I’m busy doing the old job and the new one, it’s good, it’s already enjoyable albeit a bit nerve wracking given I don’t actually start any training until Friday 13th May!!

Donna called me in the early hours of Thursday morning to ask what I was doing on Friday night as her boss had given her 2 tickets to go see The Frames – I like Donna, she’s another of those people that I think it will be cool to know in years to come – perhaps it’s because by hanging around with young people I can cling to my own youth? I tend to find myself behaving like a teenager when she’s around – it’s a nice feeling!

I listened to the Frames on the net – wasn’t all that impressed but wasn’t going to tell her that As it happens I did tell her but wow, live they were fucking great – I now have to add yet another band onto my “I want list” After the gig we went off to Metro on Oxford Street had a few drinks then jumped on night bus home – think she almost had a heart attack on Saturday morning when seeing her off at station I went to kiss her on the lips! (note to self: must remember not everyone is as friendly as self)

So, it’s been another gap between entries. Is this a problem? I’m not sure it is, I’d rather be too busy doing nothing than spending all my time online thinking of things to write here… after all I’ve no idea if anyone actually reads this, other than myself!

So, where to start? Trip to Scotland didn’t go ahead, primarily because I got rather tipsy the night before in the company of Fred and Cécile and woke up at 8.30am on the floor of William and Cleeve’s living room… memories very hazy but suffice to say there was no way on earth I was going to make it home and to the station in 90mins so I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour or so before getting up. Head was pounding, this seemed to be partly caused by cut on forehead – can only assume I bounced off a few walls on way from Fred’s place to William’s place and given they live about 10mins slow walk apart and it took me 2hrs 15mins to make the journey I must have bounced off a few walls!

So, I called Aurélie to let her know I wouldn’t be making the trip up to Edinburgh to see her, it felt strange that the first telephone call in 2yrs 8months should be one saying I won’t see you. But we chatted as if we had spoken only days earlier, she had booked tickets on the train to come to London with Hélène so it appeared I would see her after all!

OK, just realised as I was typing this that there was too much déja-vu going on and sure enough it appears Mr Omneo has already explained the chance meeting with Julie – it must have been that bump on the head *wink*

Well, anyway, met Aurélie and Hélène for lunch on Friday, wasn’t a beautiful sunny day but it was dry, we went for lunch at Cafe Pacifico and any feelings of awkwardness I had while waiting for them to arrive soon vanished. I wasn’t sure how long they planned hangout out with me but we went off to see the Jeff Buckley exhibition, which was very good, such a loss to music as a whole. After that we strolled up to Tusk as Hélène wanted her ear pierced, Marc was busy painting the ceiling when we arrived so said we should pop back in an hour, which we did and Hélène left a happy girl with 2 new piercings Then we hot-footed it to Camden to buy some magic mushrooms for Aurélie’s friend Julie after a drink in The Worlds End we made our way to Canary Wharf to meet Julie and her boyfriend Peter where we had a few drinks a smoke and a pleasant evening – just a pity it took me two and a half hours to get home

Saturday saw me suffering from a bout of paranoia, mainly because I had no idea what the 3 girls were talking about the night before (note to self: must learn French) I ended up thinking that perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to tag along again and just let them enjoy the rest of their time in London alone. As soon as I said it I regretted it, but you know what it’s like, it’s hard to suddenly change your mind once you’ve said something. However Aurélie called and asked why I didn’t want to meet them and said I should re-consider, so I said I’d call her later to see what was happening

Met the girls in The Chandos and waited for a spell while they went off to see Caravaggio, met more of their friends, had another drink and then off to Canary Wharf again so the girls could prepare for the night, off to a party in Crystal Palace. On way there something happened… still not sure what it was about (note to self: must learn French) however the end result was of the five who set of in car for party, only three of us went inside… It was however a very good night – slightly awkward not knowing anyone but the people were very chilled so it was easy to chat with strangers, it’s been a while since Mr Omneo was in such a relaxed place. Left party at about 7am and got taxi to Canary Wharf, girls packed and we left for Kings Cross station so they could catch train to Edinburgh, had coffee and bagel and we said our goodbyes. Was sorry to see them go.

So…remember that talk of fate? It kicked in again. On way home I gave some thought to the events of that weekend. If I had gone to Edinburgh as planned I would have seen Aurélie but wouldn’t have seen Hélène as she was in Lille and when they were in London I would have been in Glasgow. As it happened I got to see both of them by missing the train and as a result realised that Hélène is as cool as her sister, I had only very vague recollections of Hélène from when I met her in Nice but it was a real pleasure to meet her again and I now have some people to visit the next time I’m in Edinburgh, rather than wandering around on my own, I can visit her and her boyfriend – so a bump on the head and a missed train can have so many more benefits!

Aurélie? That was strange, when I had been chatting with Cécile on Monday I had explained that when I first saw Aurélie I had never thought of her as attractive, but after a short time in her company it was her warmth and friendliness that won me over, to the extent that when I used to look at her I was convinced I was looking at the most beautiful woman on earth. I wrote an essay on the merits of meeting ‘cyber friends’ and one of the things I said then summed it up perfectly: You don’t love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her When I saw her again it was the same feeling, I wasn’t struck by her physical beauty when she stepped out of the station, there was no ‘wow’ but after an hour I remember looking at her and thinking, “You’re beautiful” – I was never sure if she thought I still had ‘feelings’ for her or not, sometimes I thought she suspected I had and was acting in such a way as to stop me thinking them – but the truth is I was just happy to have her in my life as a friend.

I remember when I was about 19 saying to Hallie Rubenhold, someone I think about now and then, “I’d rather lose a lover than a friend” as it happens I chose not to have to many lovers and the number of friends is pretty low too but the ones I have are pretty damn good. I’m glad to have Aurélie in the friend category and even happier to have added Hélène as she is another one who triggers those feelings of, “I just know I need to have this person in my life in years to come”

Well, if anyone has read this far, thank you for sticking with it… it’s taken me a week to feel like writing it down and this is the 20th variation of what was in my head, but it’s down now so I can move on…

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

No Idea!

Your actual outcome:

Labour -26
Conservative -19
	Lib Dems 42
	UK Independence Party 17
	Green 37

Mr Omneo, you should vote: Liberal Democrat

The Lib Dems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Well gentle readers, if things had gone according to plan I would be sitting in a bar in Edinburgh right now, as is often the case, things didn’t go according to plan!

On Sunday I headed off to see the Caravaggio exhibition at the National Gallery – it was breathtaking! After a spot of lunch with William and Cleeve I headed over to see Cecile and Fred but there was no one home, so i walked to Covent Garden and had a couple of pints, then I got a call from Fred – they were home. I said I wouldn’t go round as I was closer to home and I still had to pack but being easily persuaded I said OK, I’ll pop round for a few oysters and some champagne…

We laughed, we drank, we ate, we finished the champagne and had some cherry vodka from Poland – it was delicious then we had some whisky…then we had some more… I woke on the floor of William’s place on Monday with no real recollection as to how I got there – I had missed the train to Edinburgh…

So, checked online and a replacement train was too expensive so i figured OK, I now have a week off in London. I called Cecile to see what she was doing – she was going to the pub to meet a colleague – a drink seemed like a damn fine idea. I called Aurelie in Edinburgh to let her know I wasn’t going to see her after all – it transpires she’ll be in London on Thursday – so perhaps I will see her after all.

Sitting int eh pub with Cecile and Caroline I noticed a rather attractive girl sit down, white t-shirt and white trousers, drinking red wine…yes, you can guess what happened, wobbly table, pretty girl in white, red wine… So old habits die hard, my first thought was to find an open shop and buy her a pair of trousers so she didn’t have to walk around looking like she had just poured red wine over herself, but then I thought – “Don’t be so bloody stupid!” so I argued with myself for a bit more then asked Cecile if it would be really crazy for me to ask the pretty girl for the size of her trousers to get her a replacement pair… Cecile thought I would indeed be crazy and stupid and few other choice French phrases… So I asked the pretty girl for the size of her trousers.

Ran off to a store opposite the pub and tried to get a pair but the owner said we really needed the girl, so ran back to pub to collect girl. She thought I was funny for wanting to buy her something, I figured that was a good sign Pretty girl turned out to be called Julie. Originally from St Louis but now resident in San Fransisco. Julie was in London for only a few more days before embarking on a Contiki tour of Europe – she asked what I was doing on Tuesday, “as it happens,” I said – “nothing!” so we arranged to meet for lunch.

Met Julie for lunch, went to La Perla and had a most enjoyable day, we chatted and laughed and had a mini pub crawl finally saying good bye at about 7pm, almost 7hrs after we met. If I had caught the train I’d never have met her, so perhaps fate intended for us to meet, certainly she didn’t have to ask me to have lunch with her but she did and if nothing else she has a story to tell of the strange Scottish guy who insisted on buy her trousers when she was in London.

Now home and about to head for bed, so tired and in need of a rest. It’s been a hectic few days but a good hectic, i made a new friend and I feel alive again. How many times do we have the option of talking to a stranger who catches our eye but we don’t? On Monday I did and it wasn’t as painful as I used to tell myself it would be. Have a great time in Europe Julie and come back again soon!

OK, so Mr Omneo is getting pretty sick and tired of this DIY lark…

As was to be expected, the path to finally decorated bathroom seldom runs smoothly. Saturday was filled with good intentions…remove the rest of the wallpaper, fill in the holes and paper leaving Sunday to bask in the warm glow of a job well done.

As it transpires I didn’t even shift my lazy ass to B&Q to buy wallpaper paste and plaster, in fact I didn’t even make any attempt at DIY on Saturday, although I kept telling myself I would start it in “5 minutes” – a London Underground 5 minutes!!

However Sunday I sprung into action, finally got all the old wallpaper off and discovered a few new holes, figured I’d plaster the holes and leave it overnight to dry and paper on Monday…nip off to B&Q and discover they have closed!! Plod back home and chat to Winton and Bridget in the garden and mention the early closure of B&Q. Winton kindly donates a bag of plaster to the cause and i return to fill in the holes. A task I’ve just completed. Tomorrow I shall purchase a few bags of wallpaper paste and set to papering (or I may leave it till Tuesday!)

Between DIY I chatted to a few folk on MSN, seem to find myself spending less and less time on-line, as can be witnessed by the lack of entries recently, I’m really making an effort to write stuff as I know there are a few insomniacs out there who like to stop by and get their fill

Donna sent me a great CD of new music, probably not new to anyone else but all new to me, hard to keep up with all these new ‘indie’ bands – I never understood how they could be signed up to Warner EMI, Virgin etc and still be independent…

Saw Bec on-line for the first time in around 2 months, we chatted for 15 minutes or so, promised to keep in touch, not sure if she was just being polite or not – time will tell.