Because We Want To

I haven't written a post in over a week. Naughty, naughty me. Things have been kind of busy again of late though, which is always a good excuse.

Firstly, my BIG news is that Gustavo and I have finally decided to buy a property together after umpteen years of renting. I mean renting is really an incredible waste of time when you think about it, money going in some landlord's pocket and no stake in your own place. So that HAD to change. With the redundancy money I got from my previous job, plus other dosh that I have managed to save over a number of years (it has taken literally eons) I finally have a decent amount to put down as deposit. Of course there's all the horrid fees on top of that - stamp duty, solicitor's fees, evaluation etc etc - my God, it's a killer! - I never knew that buying somewhere could be so expensive. But I should have enough now. Anyway we've already found a flat in South East London (close to Crystal Palace / Croydon) and put in an offer which has been accepted so I'm very pleased about that! The area is not as desirable as where we're currently living, slightly run down in fact but it's not terrible either. Affordability forced us to look further afield - at the moment we're living in a one bed place and it now seems very small - two beds are soooo much better - but the problem was that two bed flats in our current location are mostly out of our price range, hence looking elsewhere. Anyway the area is meant to be "up and coming" and it's close to lovely Crystal Palace and the park. There's also good transport links and they're extending the East London line out there for 2010 which means that local properties will most likely go up in value. As for the flat itself it's gorgeous inside, with a massive lounge and modernised to a pretty high standard (good for someone like me who is clueless when it comes to DIY - the prospect of having to do a place up fills me with total dread.) And I'm really looking forward to having a second bedroom as a study/guest room. So all of that kind of sold it to me. Anyhow I don't want to run away with myself too much here as we're still awaiting the outcome of the mortgage application and there are a few other hurdles to get over. I am praying that all will be okay. Please pray for us too, dear readers!

Yesterday Gustavo and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary! We had a pretty full on weekend actually, most of which was spent in Brighton for Gay Pride. An appropriate place to celebrate. And the weather (as most of you in Southern England probably know) was totally fabulous. Pride in the rain is a bad proposition but we were truly blessed with some scorching sunshine all weekend long. And thousands of gays and dykes dressed up to the nines, not to mention an abundance of trannies and some truly wonderful and outlandish outfits. I also love Brighton and whenever I go back it's like going home (well, I did live there for six years...) The moment you step off the train and feel that sea air it's so relaxing and being cooped up in London one definitely appreciates the change of scene. I want to persuade Gustavo to move there one day, well maybe in a few years' time once we've made a bit of money on our current place. Whoops, I'm writing about it as if it's already ours aren't I? A more in-depth Pride report and photos are pending...

After we got back from Brightey we went for a nice anniversary meal at a Brazilian cafe in Fulham, which was very pleasant. I would highly recommend Brazilian food, although it's rather limited if you're a non-meat eater (the concept of vegetarianism is largely unknown in the country I'm told).

What else...I've been trying to get my butt back down the gym, as our Brazil trip is just under a month away and I don't want to look like a beached wale on the dunes in Rio. No senor! Jesus, it's hard though. Basically I'm going to have to abstain from any alcohol and unhealthy eating for the next month, which is quite a tall order for me. I can manage though...I've got very bored of countless sessions on the treadmill, running machines etc at the gym and to make things more interesting I'm been doing some exercise classes instead. Last week I went to a Pilates class (shades of Madonna) and also a "Box-fit" one which entailed doing lots of punches, flurries and uppercuts to cheesey pop music. You basically go round the room in a circuit with one person holding up "pads" which the other person wears a pair of gloves and punches and hits the pads. The latter is a great way of venting all your energy and I enjoyed it, but goodness, it's knackering and my arms and shoulders really ached afterwards.

And I recently read Billie's Piper's autobiography, Growing Pains. Strange to think that someone so young (only 24 years old) has already written about their life. Although after reading it, you do realise that she's already lived quite a full existence - plucked from obscurity to become a Pop Star when only 15, marrying Chris Evans at 19, experiencing anorexia, attempting suicide, becoming an actress and of course winding up in Dr Who. I actually really enjoyed reading it, although hardly a great work of art it was still quite enlightening, especially Billie's revelations about the Pop industry and the whole attempt to manufacture her image and persona which led to her depression and obsession with losing weight. Tellingly she later realises that her true ambition was to act. Parts of the book lacked depth though and I was disappointed (naturally) that more wasn't devoted to her time as Rose in Dr Who - she tends to generalise about the show with not much emphasis on making specific stories and I was dying for some more revelations and gossip. A bit of a let down in that respect.

Whilst on the subject of Who, I am still to finish my review of the final few episodes of Season Three. It's coming though, I promise.

Some of the forthcoming DVDs are looking good though, I'm loving the boxset of the Key to Time:

Although now I'm in the sensible business of buying a flat I will have to abstain from frivolous activities such as buying more DVDs. I'll probably have to ask for some for Christmas instead.

And I didn't even get round to doing "Quote of the week" this week! For shame.