Should probably have a go at writing again eh

As I stare at my fetchingly freckled toes on a balmy September’s day in Spain, I am suddenly struck by an acute sense of déjà vu.
No, Suzi, you fuckwit, you were here at the villa last year in the same week, except this year your toes are freckled in a checkered pattern that matches your sandals of choice whereas last year you enjoyed a slightly more stripy state of affairs.

Dear Jamie: PostScript

I’ve not posted for a while, and for that, you have my apologies. Over the past month, I graduated from Edinburgh University with a law degree, had a few nights where I drank far too much, danced until dawn and laughed myself silly with the best people I’ve known, and dealt with the most horrific heartbreak I’ve ever had to endure in the past 21 years of my life.

Up until recently, I loved a man called Jamie MacRae with everything I had and everything I ever would have, but he wrenched out my heart and tore it to pieces. It still hurts. I still hurt. But it had to be done. I had to tell that lying, cheating, philandering bastard to swivel and never darken my emotional doorway again. The story is long, complicated, and far too painfully raw for me to recount here. I will at a later date when I’m not sleep-deprived , intoxicated with too much alcohol and in a tailspin because he obviously just drunk-texted me on a whim 10 minutes ago.

But I told the bastard to swivel through the means of the written word. I sent him a letter. And with that in mind, I have reproduced it here. To you, the reader, I hope you are never unfortunate enough to ever meet your Jamie.

Things That Go Beep in the Night

White Elephant in the Room

Like Pavlov’s dog, every time I hear a beep my hand moves reflexively to my smartphone. I quickly thumb through my recent alerts to find the source of the notification and find closure only when I’ve tapped away all the unopened emails, unread messages and unchecked updates. But sometimes, my phone stares blankly back at me, and I realize that little beep didn’t come from where I’d thought.

The other evening, I was winding down my day with a little laundry, dishwashing, and a few follow up notes on a project when I heard a beep. Phone number one was unfruitful so I glanced at phone number two. When it, too, showed no signs of life I checked IM on my work laptop, then Skype on my personal laptop, and then the mystery got deeper. I checked the dishwasher, the dryer, the alarm system – all to no avail. Then…

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White Noise – Living with an Anxiety Disorder

I was in two minds as to whether I should post this topic which has been gnawing at me for a while. It’s got all the right elements for controversy – mental illness, vitriol, and a rather scathing critique of how it’s all handled in the UK at the moment, both socially and medically – but fuck it, I may as well go all in. Rather than discuss the matter in a clinical generic style (or to put it another way, get all up my own arse about the situation) I shall start by telling you a story.

Writer’s Digest Dumps Author Solutions

Summer sunshine

Last night, the sun was splitting the sky and the sticky hum of humidity was the rallying call for the Scottish summer to make its appearance. It was 25 degrees and the discomfiting heat was a joy to behold in the wake of the typically dreary UK weather. Summer in our country is my favourite day of the year. With that in mind, I felt my attire for a friend’s birthday barbecue (outside! We can sit outside! In SCOTLAND! And it isn’t raining!) should adequately reflect the season and my resulting jubilant disposition.
Or to put it more simply: HOORAY FOR SUMMER AND SUMMER DRESSES!

Suzi Reads A Book: The Rosie Project *SPOILERS*

In the midst of being immersed in the sprawling worlds of Westeros and Essos, I picked up The Rosie Project as a mental respite from my second reread of book five of George R. R. Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire series. Giddy, swooping fantasy novels have always been my preference, so it was with some trepidation I picked up Graham Simsion’s cheerful debut. I’d been throroughly recommended it by a number of people, and with a slew of five-star reviews on Amazon, I decided it couldn’t hurt to stop playing the game of thrones for a few hours.

I’m Not an Alcoholic… Honest

My second wordy post comes from work again. I’m on my break and saddled with a crippling hangover after a quiet dinner-and-drinks session with a friend ended up in us being “politely” asked to leave at 1am after four bottles of wine. On a Wednesday night. When we both had work at 9am the next day. I woke up at 7am in blinding sunshine and 25 degree heat to the sound of two cats fighting and my mother shouting at a bee. I took two paracetamol and went to work. The day started as it meant to go on.

Tribute: Casey Kasem

Funk's House of Geekery

I’ve seen a lot of news headlines these past few days lamenting the passing of the American Top 40 host. I had no idea what they were talking about. It’s not my fault, I live in the far off, exotic land of Australia where everything is trying to kill you and people somehow slur their vowels. A line of two into the article they mentioned the real news: Casey Kasem, the voice of Shaggy, has died.

Not that I want to diminish his career as a DJ…as a member of the international audience that work hasn’t reached us. But we sure as hell know who Norville ‘Shaggy’ Rogers is.

He’s the one on the left?

Seriously, everyone knows who Shaggy is. Watch this: ‘zoinks’. You read that in his voice, right? The character is an icon of pop culture. Casey Kasem provided the voice to many roles during his hey-day…

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Photography snippets

Got bored and decided to mess around with bath bombs and a camera. I quite liked some of the results.