Well, actually, not my Gran. She married twice, so the second half of the saying doesn't really apply to her.
However, in all of these old photos we have of her, there are quite a few of her as a bridesmaid. At least, I'm assuming this one in particular is a bridesmaid's dress. It looks bridesmaidy, but I've never been a bridesmaid myself, so you probably shouldn't take my word for it. And if it is a bridesmaid dress, then is the other girl in the photo a bridesmaid as well, because that's a different dress and aren't bridesmaids supposed to wear the same dress? Maybe the other girl isn't a bridesmaid? Maybe neither of them are? So ... there goes the whole title of this post. Bugger. Perhaps I should just move swiftly on...
There are a few things I quite like about this photo. Obviously, Gran looks freaking awesome in it, but I also like the confidence that seems to ooze out of her here. She knows she looks great and she looks very comfortable in her own skin. She's not even bothering to smile properly - she doesn't need to smile properly to know she looks good. Why on earth did she not teach me how to manage that before she passed away?!
I'm not sure who the other girl in the photo is, but I like that she looks kind of awkward (is it mean to say that? It probably is, but there you go. If it makes it any better, I'm usually the awkward-looking one in photos, so I know how she feels). I also like that she's wearing her bracelet on her upper arm. That's kinda cool. I give her props for that.
In this photo, it's a little more obvious that Gran is a bridesmaid, what with the bride and groom and flowers and awkward formalness and whatnot. Here, Gran is second from the right. She's also a bit younger and has heaps skinny arms. Gran was pretty skinny though so that's not much of a surprise.
I'm not a big fan of this second dress that Gran is wearing - it seems to fit into that early 30s style that's a bit flouncy and fluffy. There's probably a name for it that I'm too lazy to Google. The other girl in the first photo is wearing a similar type of dress, whereas Gran's (in the first photo) looks a bit more modern, at least, it's definitely a sleeker dress with less frou-frou.
Plus, in this second photo, Gran seems much less confident. Whether that's down to age (she's a bit older in the first photo) or the dress (I don't think she liked frilly, frou-frou type dresses - I think I get that from her), or the fact that she has important bridesmaid stuff to think about, who knows? Maybe the groomsman she was standing next to was smelly (he looks a bit smelly, don't you think? Hope he's not a dead relative I'm now dissing). I'm going with the simplest option, because that's usually the right one. Smelly groomsman it is (forgive me groomsman, but only if we're related).
So ... some of you may not be aware (perhaps you live under a rock or on another planet or something), but it was my birthday on Tuesday. I turned 31. And it was ... quite freaking awesome, actually. As it happens, I'm really enjoying my thirties so far (true, I haven't gotten very far through my thirties yet, but if the early years are anything to go by, the rest will be ace).
For my thirtieth birthday last year, I just happened to be in Paris. So to be honest, I thought that this year was bound to be a let-down in comparison. And it certainly wasn't a massive celebration and I didn't do anything fancy or get a bucket-load of presents, but it was just the kind of day I was after.
I had one of my favourite classes in the afternoon (you're not supposed to have favourites, but I do). I spent most of the day telling everyone they had to be nice to me because it was my birthday. And they were. A colleague greeted me in the morning with chocolate cake. Another colleague arranged for coffee and mini muffins to be brought to me in class. The students sang happy birthday several times. I arrived home to a seafood extravaganza of prawns and smoked salmon. There were my favourite anchovy-stuffed olives and there was brie cheese. There was sparkling wine (it was a red sparkling wine, which I don't think I've had before, but quite liked). And there were cupcakes. I talked to my sister on the phone and watched some of my favourite shows on TV before bed. I got a stack of really lovely messages on my Facebook wall and overall had a fantabulous day.
All of which just goes to prove that if you have few expectations, then the only way is up - and that is going to be my philosophy for birthdays from now on - none of this expecting big things or hoping for the perfect-est of perfect days. Then when lots of little nice things happen, they all add up and make for a very awesome experience. Huzzah for birthdays!
P.S. I totally forgot that, inspired by this post over at Meet Me At Mikes, I was going to post a "vintage" photo of myself. Voila! Very classy, non?
I heart Flickr (which you probably know already if you've had a look at my Flickr photostream thingy over there, or at any of my previous photos which are mostly up on my Flickr account).
I can literally spend hours upon hours checking out all the uploads. The thing about Flickr is that there are some insanely brilliant photographers posting their images, but there is also some really (really) dodgy stuff out there. But I'll be honest with you (after all, the internets is not made up of lies and certainly is not the place for lies), that's the exact thing I like so much about it. One second you're looking at a photo that makes you cringe and the next you're looking at an image that gives you goosebumps, or makes you "O.M.G" (in a good way) out loud. Which can be embarrassing if there are others around.
Anyhoo, one of the things I've been really enjoying about Flickr lately is the "Things I Love Thursdays" group. Basically you use this handy-dandy mosaic maker, choose a selection of your favourite photos, click on "Create" and voila! There's your mosaic. Then upload it (along with the html text so that each photo is accredited appropriately to the source) and you're away.
I forgot yesterday was Thursday (shutup, it happens), so I did one today. You can check it out here. And if you want to see some Flickr-luvin' from other Thursdays, you can look at my set here, and you can see the actual group here.
I've got a brilliant way of entertaining myself while trying to do work at school. It's pretty easy. All you need is a computer with an internet connection and the need to create a worksheet or presentation for class.
Basically I've been whacking a whole bunch of subject-specific lolcats on worksheets for some of my more senior classes (the younger ones just don't get it & they like to be more serious, give a Year 7 or 8 a "well done" sticker & they roll their eyes, but give a sticker to a Year 10 or 11 or 12 and they think it's awesome - of course, the older ones are right, stickers are awesome).
Effectively, this means that I get the lols when I research the lolcats, I get the lols when I give the students the worksheet and I also get the lols when I mark the worksheets. Win-win and lols all round.
Soon one of my classes will be starting to work on genetics and this is the lolcat I'm hoping to incorporate:
It's true what they say about small things and small minds (they both heart the lols).
So ... here's another old photo of my Gran, Rita. I love this one for several reasons, but mostly because she's got this look on her face that says, "Yes, I look awesome. Bask in my awesomeness." But, you know, not quite in those words.
I'm fascinated with these photos. I keep looking to see if there's any of myself in Gran's face. I'm not really sure. Also, I'm dying to know who took them. Plus, it's really weird to see Gran with dark hair.
If I look at it for long enough, I can just about hear her saying something incredibly acerbic or telling me to "play the field" - which I used to find oh-so mortifying as a teenager. I think what she was really saying to me was not to marry the first man I fell in love with, as opposed to telling me to be promiscuous. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. (Shhh. Don't burst the bubble.)
Just call me Slacky McSlackerson this week. In fact, I'm so slack I'm posting a photo from almost a year ago. This was the place where I had lunch in Paris on my 30th birthday. It was lovely. Sigh.
I've been battling a head cold all week and generally feeling blah. Can't can't can't wait for the long weekend. I needs me a sleep-in something chronic.
I'd like to think that over the long weekend I'll take care of the tonnes of stuff that I've neglected lately like: my knitting, baking yummy things, taking vaguely decent or interesting photos, my marking, my other marking, the new pile of marking on my desk at work (you get the idea about the marking).
However, I've got the distinct feeling I'll be in reality, spending it doing things like: faffing about on the internet, staring at the television, taking boring & rather average photos (if any at all), thinking about baking yummy things but never actually entering the kitchen, and neglecting my marking.
Just while I'm being all retrospective and stuff, I thought I'd post some photos that were leftover (so to speak) from when I was living in London (there's a couple of others on my Flickr photostream). The one above is from my bedroom at East Finchley. This was taken in summer, just after we'd moved in.
Now that I'm back home it's so strange when I look at my London photos. I know I really was actually, physically there, but it feels like so long ago (I've only been home smidgen over two months). Part of me wonders if it was all a strange dream. Did I really do that crazy thing of leaving everything behind and living in London? I guess I must have ... and I've got the photos to prove it.
... never the bride.
ore obvious that Gran is a bridesmaid, what with the bride and groom and flowers and awkward formalness and whatnot. Here, Gran is second from the right. She's also a bit younger and has heaps skinny arms. Gran was pretty skinny though so that's not much of a surprise.
