To be or not to be me

One night recently, Julie and myself were chatting away. Our conversation was - as ever - punctuated by Julie straying into the lands of the odd. It was late, though, and I was struggling to stay awake as it was. Trying to concentrate on what Julie was trying to say wasn't helping much either. Finally, after one particularly long rambling interlude, I had to say something.

As you can well imagine, that one just about finished me off! Boiiing! Time for bed said Zebedee!

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So. Our next post will be our 200th. I shall have to do my best to ensure it's a suitably epic one.
Tata for now!

A rodent has graduated.

It's Friday and the weekend is here, a fact that I, for one, am very grateful for. It's been a heck of a week, driving most of the way up and down the country and then coming back to this ice-box of a house. At least we got to stop over at my folks' place for a night as we passed by. Of course, as we are wont to do, we will all sit around following a good meal and enjoy a good game of Scrabble. Also, as certain people are wont to do, alcohol was consumed (although I do have to admit not copious amounts) and merriment ensued. Of course, when Dad and Julie are in the same room and of similar mind, then alcohol usage seems to be something akin to overkill...
Naturally, the standard 'hmph'ing was present, along with the tossing the book of words aside ("Stupid book!"). As was Dad's predilection for making up words that shouldn't exist but have somehow managed to appear in the book (the Scrabble word list, in case you weren't sure. I did mention it in Monday's post). Sneaking in an unwanted 'v', Dad put down the word 'VOE'. Immediately, there was an outcry at the unfamiliar word, but Julie was on form and managed to answer mine and Mum's outburst with what I consider to be a better answer than the real one...

(by the way, in case you're interested, a voe is a narrow sea inlet, something like a fjord, but mainly in the far North of Scotland, particularly the Shetland Islands. How's that for obscure!)

A man of letters. The wrong ones.

Hello and welcome to Half-way day!
Once again, I return to the matter of our cheating by referring to a book of approved words - and to the world of familial in-jokes. The thing is, if we have managed to arrange the tiles on our racks so they appear to make a plausible word, we will then check the Mighty Tome to verify its existence. Sadly, our cunningly-arranged that appear to have fallen into a stunningly beautiful word often turns out to be utter gibberish. In other words, it's not in the book. On discovering this, our usual response it to mutter "Stupid book" and toss it to the side in a fit of pique.

On this particular occasion, Julie and myself were playing Scrabble, but were being put off by one of the dogs next door. You see, the owners had gone out for the day and left the poor animals on their own. While the one pooch is fairly stoical, Lulu is quite often gaga. She will bark at the slightest thing, which tends to be somewhat annoying if you happen to have wandered out into your own back garden and she then throws a fit. Left to her own devices, Lulu can't cope and takes to howling pitifully now and then (fortunately, this has only happened the once, and I think her owners realised it had happened when they returned).
Back in our house - a terraced house with thin walls, we were trying to concentrate on making up words by randomly throwing letters together - I mean, playing Scrabble. >sigh<  No, I was just randomly throwing letters together. I'll be honest, I had a f... er, pretty bad set of letters, and the state of the board wasn't helping. Nor was the occasional howl from next door.

It was only after the game ended and I looked back at what I had written, that I realised Julie had used the word 'letter'. Did I say I wasn't feeling particularly sharp that day?

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ps - We are nearing our bicentennial. Yep, that's right, this is our 197th post since the blog began! Not sure how to celebrate it yet, as I have been rather tied up with a nation-wide tour for work, but I'll try to come up with something...

Almost Gems, but most definitely a put-down.

Hello, and welcome to a week of Scrabble-themed Gems, a week in which I prove that we can be both as bad as each other in so many ways. We both cheat, for example. Mind you, when I say 'cheat', what we actually do is look at the letters we have on our racks and try and come up with a possible combination. In this manner, we hope to happen upon a word that is not in our vocabularies, but is most definitely contained in the Scrabble word book.

For us - and my folks - it's the ultimate arbiter and referee. If it's in there, it stays on the board. This gives rise to a common exchange, following a placement of a bizarre word.

"Qibla?? What's that?"
"It's in the book, that's what it is."
"...right."

The thing is, though, there will be times when those seven tiles on your rack give you absolutely no inspiration at all. Granted, a lot of the time, it'll be something like 'AAGHUUU' or the teeth and tongue-rending "BDDFQVX'. However, I find I can wind up with a sweet-looking set of letters - and maybe even one of the blanks - and.. and... Crud. How is it I can't make anything larger than three letters long...? Or, to put it another way...

I hope you know what I mean. Julie does, but she's hardly sympathetic. Or coherent.

I know, I know. It all makes sense, doesn't it? It's just that when you first look at it or hear it you can't process it, can it? Oh... it can. I guess it's just me then...
Sigh...

Saturday Bonus - Dead in Bed

I was trying to explain the expression Julie usually manages to evoke from me. You know, it's The Look.

It's a little self-contradictory, as it's an expression without much expression. To put it in one word. 'Deadpan'. Julie, however, seems to have a little trouble with mastering The Look.

There's only one possible response to that.

A demonstrably inexplicable lack of thought

It's Friday once more, and I thought we'd lead you into the weekend with a double dose of bafflement.
There's not really much background to these Gems, especially since they could have taken place any time and anywhere. In fact, they often do. It's just they also happen when Julie is feeling especially reflective or rueful about her ability to produce Gems. Along the promenade, in a cafe or our front room, we've had similar conversations on many occasion. Mind you, on most of those occasions, I have been too confused to remember precisely what was said in order to write it down.
This time, Julie had been trying to get something across to me and it simply was not happening, possibly due to an overuse of the word 'wotnot' in place of various verbs, nouns and adjectives. As a reason for her failure, Julie offered this up;

I'll be honest here; if anyone can er.. explain this one to me, then I'll be truly grateful.
Then again, Julie did try to justify why she had said this and will continue to say more things like it.

Hear that? That's the sound of my brain reaching overload.
I think I'd better leave you to it and bid you a very good weekend - tata for now!

Sick at the sight of Spike?

As you read this, I am hopefully out and about, doing my roadie bit for my company, as they try and hawk their wares to a multitude of possibly uninterested and occasionally larcenous (going by my latest experiences) hairdressers. On the way, I aim to meet a few friends, and have indeed managed to do this already, both on this tour and on the previous round. Silliness was prevalent and fun was had by... a few, at least.
By the time I post this, I should be in Coventry, and aiming to be in Manchester for the following day. On that particular day, a Thursday, I will be in a damn sweet hotel, albeit one that has changed its name (and, indeed, ownership) since I last visited, a mere few months ago. The thing is, last time I was there, there were a few problems with communication, one way or another, and one of my friends never made it to the meet-up. That was a crying shame as the lady I did meet, turned out to be just as nice and fun in real life as she is on the other side of a computer screen.
This time, there are problems once more; with timing for the previously absent friend (although he may yet make it) and with Mamacat, as I originally knew her, there is a health situation, as I explained to Julie.

Wow - nice one love; A complete sympathy fail and a crushing put-down in one sentence? Sorry, Mamacat, but I think I managed to catch the brunt of that one.
I don't know, considering my friend has contributed to this blog on more than one occasion, courtesy of her young daughters, you'd think Julie would at least extend some professional courtesy... unless she's jealous, of course...

UPDATE
I AM in Coventry, in a library, and glad to be out of the hotel. I woke up with a headache, which was unpleasant. I would have had a shower, but having seen that the shower patently hasn't been cleaned, I think I may limit myself to a quick wash-over with a sponge. Yes, the shower IS that bad; even worse, it's the 2nd room. When I saw the black-spot mould all over the shower in the first room, I immediately refused to use it and demanded a second room.
Sheesh. I wish I was back in Cardiff...