Sunday Summary Monday Missive | updated with edits because I'm pedantic like that . . .

Hello and Happy Monday (ha! is there such a thing?!) to my lovely FOQ Family!

Thankseverso for Bearing With and not lobbing mushrooms or parmesan/goat's cheese/feta, olives or foam cushion innards at me (all things I cannot even be doing with) after my shock "Summary's going to be a day late, deal with it, please and here, have some fudgy nuts"

{for these are they -- look upon them and be awed!}

announcement on Wednesday.

Sometimes, friends, life happens. And while life makes excellent blog fodder© (#blogfodder), one needs to actually live that life in order to garner the fodder and now I'm just jabbering so I'll lock it up and continue with a rather whistlestop tour of my week wot was and ... what's that you say, Dr Evil?

(OK. Sorry. Consider me zipped.)

So, this week (or, last week? What week even are we in?! Are we in December yet?! No? One more sleep 'til December? ... Good, that helps (!)), I have mostly been ...

Reading

very slowly and sporadically on account of spending the remains of my waking hours doing all the other things, or trying to give my brain a break by:

Watching

The Coroner

The Goose

and the Hope Cove scenery just about redeemed this series, I tell thee.

Because there's no credibility in a storyline that has both the coroner and her twinkly-eyed pseudo-quasi-love-interest sarge conveniently hiding in a suspect's wardrobe while she confesses a crime in a moment of poorly-staged nookie. Nosireeee.

Still. Look!

Recognisable scenery!

{Hey! Check out my seamless transposition! << and no, I don't say that to all the boys |
Screenshot (minus Norgstar) from The Coroner | BBC}

Writing

Oh heck yes, I only ruddyflippingwell DID. IT.

50,000 words!

And I finished early!

Suppose it must be about time for the next creative endeavour, eh?

Bill's Bill's Bill's 

No, friends, I have not taken leave of my firmly-ensconced grammatical senses.

On Thursday night, I headed to Soho for a splendid supper at Bill's with workmates past and present: Clare, Miranda, Jillian; Sarah, Charlotte and Sue, my current team-of-sorts, oh, and honorary teamster Katerina. And very nice it was too!

We had a good ol' catch-up and some velly nice wine and some velly nice food.

You really can't go wrong with a Bill's ...

... or so I thought.

Bill's, sadly, seem to have tainted my favourite dish (macaroni cheese) with MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLE OIL.

I mean, seriously? Who does that?!

So I ended up opting for something completely different (and I'm not good on the departure front but this was definitely worthwhile): ribs. A veritable xylophone of ribs. Because it came with coleslaw, mostly.

And I chased it up with a lemon meringue cheesecake that looked a little bit like this:

{Actually it looked a lot like this given
that was, er, the actual one.} 

'Twas lovely to have a more casual evening out with the workies and to catch up with the shenanigans of Miranda and Clare before Christmas when our diaries get absolutely mad and in spite of best intentions we risk not seeing each other for months.

I did attempt to get a panoramic photo of everyone together, but it wound up looking like thiiiiiis (with apologies to Miranda for the time lapse on her face and to Sue who's shrouded in shadow on the left there):

{L-R for the benefit of Ma QB, not that you can really tell who's who anyway, Clare, Sue (in the dark), Sarah, Katerina, Miranda, Jillian and Charlotte}

And the second attempt, with Clare taking the camera to try to fit me into the picture, ended up like thiiiiiiiiiis:

{What. The heck. Just happened. To my nose?!!}

Yeah, let's just not go there.

Ooh, cue for a bauble selfie:

Then, t'following evening, I got up to even more

Reuniting ...

... with former workmates (must be that nostalgic time of year again)!

Yea verily, on Friday night, I met up with my ol' Templar Publishing buddies in Dorking, and I tell thee ... none of them, not one of them, has actually changed a bit. Youthful bunch of youffs.

It was a right old time tunnel and jolly lovely to see everyone there assembled. Only slightly alarming to realise how small the publishing world is, though ...

Then, then, not quite content with having been the quintessential social butterfly moth

for two nights on the trot, I headed out on Saturday afternoon to take part in a completely full-on, hard-work but totally worth every minute Gospel Workshop, run by musical aficionado, legend, and fellow rapid orator (man alive, he talks fast!) Ken Burton. You may remember that name from, er, stuff on the telly. Or in fact this blog post last year (the tone and content of which bears a considerable resemblance to, er, more recent posts this year -- funny, that).

Anyway, in spite of the bafflement of 80% of the choir who attended, who weren't quite sure which part they were supposed to be singing as things were rolling differently from our usual Tuesday night shenans, we ended up producing a rather lovely sound.

After a cheeky hot chocolate with my Lovelies in residence:

{Charlie, Jos, Fern and Alun with a couple of swimming pools' worth of choc} 

{I have no idea what the girls were laughing at but heck, I love this photo}

and a quick trip home, I headed out uhhhhhhgain

on the bus, to spend a fabulous and nostalgic evening with more of my Lovelies, Jess and Mandy! We ordered takeaway (verrrrry nice), ate a phenomenal amount of popcorn (oh, just me then), was served Prosecco by a very polite young man (Jess, your kids are fabulous) and played an impromptu game of Dodge the Cute Snuffling Pug as she runs for yer wine glass.

Oh and we also watched at least four back-to-back episodes of truly rather scary (for the fashions alone) 1980s children's serial Moondial on DVD!

{Scared faces ON! | Ooh, mind the pug}

Those of us of an age may remember this adaptation of the Helen Cresswell children's novel about a sundial that takes a young girl time-travelling to free two child ghosts:

The videos have, unsurprisingly, disappeared off YouTube now the DVD has been released ... but hey! It's on DVD, y'all!

I was expecting it to be a lot cheesier than it was. But no. It was still pretty freakin' creepy. Especially Miss Raven, the ghost hunter. *shudder*

Now kindly allow me my own little trip back in time ...

Why yes, that is a little QB and Sis (soz, Sis ...) at Belton House in 1988, where Moondial was filmed, on the actual Moondial. And yes, we're both wearing green trackies and an anorak. It was the 80s. We don't judge.

{That there is my transported-through-time face. Not my dozy ten-year-old
nitwit face. So we're clear. Sis looks cute. If reluctant.}

Where are we up to? Saturday? Good, right.

Then, on Sunday night, I was ...

Rockin' the Halls …

… in the audience for the "MOST" (Maidstone, Orpington, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) contingent of Rock Choir at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon.

Hence my lamentable absinthe last night, for our very own Ma QB was there! Hurrah for Ma QB!

The Concert Hall has some truly delicious acoustics, and the combination choir sounded fantastic; the soloists were terrific, especially the young lass hitting that money note in All I Want for Christmas (which as we know is a very hard song to sing).

RC even had a live string section for some of the renditions, including Time after Time and, my personal favourite, Someone Like You -- cue the inevitable sob-fest. Every time. Gets me every time. (Which reminds me, this is also worth a watch. Sheesh. That voice. | Adele at the BBC in case you wonder what I'm on about.) It was magic, actually. Proper magic.

And the a cappella Christmas pieces including Carol of the Bells and a mash-up/mix of a collection of Christmas songs was actually a little bit hair-raising.

In the good way.

Oh and they also sang Backstreet Boys. Who doesn't love a harmonised Backstreet Boys cover, eh?!

---

Right, I was going to mention my truly enriching trip to IKEA on Friday afternoon, and the resultant (albeit temporary) flatpack fail (it's OK, I put it all back together the right way round eventually...) but I've run out of time, it's late, and I just want to post this bad boy and go to bed.

But first, the necessary:

Pinterest Pin of the Week

Weekly Web Finds

• Queen Lucy Mangan on a Black Friday Revolt | on The Guardian | via Ma QB

• My work friend Eloise has written this excellent article on applying common sense to the media: Caution: Common Sense Ahead | I'll admit I struggle with ardent discussions of politics ('coz I is a bit uneducated, and left and right wings are fings wot birds have) but still. Worth a read.
• The funny things Tube drivers say | on The Londonist | very possibly via Caroline R

Aaaand I think that's all for now.

OK, I'm skedaddling but hopefully usual service should resume next Sunday.

Thanks for checkin' in!

qb xx

Sunday Summary | extra bubbly

Dear FOQ --

This week has been, well, the word 'polarised' fairly well encapsulates it. On a global scale it's really not been the greatest on so many fronts.

It's been pretty feckin' horrific, truth be told.

But on a local scale -- while it's been absolutely frenetic, I can honestly say that this week has driven home to me (and not for the first time) how lucky I am to be surrounded by some truly, truly magnificent people.

It's extremely difficult at times like these to admit that in the midst of horror and unease across the globe (and often far too close to home), it is also possible to kick back with those people you love and trust and have the best times with, and have fun, enjoy oneself, and get one's happy on.

That's not to say we're distancing ourselves or are not sympathetic to all the grimness in the world. We're human. I do believe we're allowed to demonstrate more than one feeling in the course of a year. Month. Week. Day. Hour. Minute, sometimes.

But there's a danger that if you dedicate yourself only to mourning every single catastrophic world event -- and there are too many to count -- you will just become so mired in depression over the state of the world that you're liable to lose sight of any joy that can also be found, or to see any way in which you can make a positive difference.

It just means that we are living life in the moment, savouring it while we have it.

And I hope we don't think we need to feel guilty for that.

I'm very aware that this blog is neither ground-breaking or eye-opening (although I've had some delicious moments on the subjects of sexism and feminism in the recent past). This is a very self-indulgent platform (it's all about meeee plus a few guest appearances) but one of the reasons I write it is to remind myself how fortunate I am to have what I have in life.

But to those of you truly feeling the strain at the moment, let me share this gif that Natalie posted this week, which we all wish were a thing:

---

So. Where to begin?

This week, I have mostly been ...

Reading

I finally finished Quiet and it was superb. Truly. I'm about to start reading a whole stack of books on exploring creativity and mindfulness and all sorts of modern-day witchery but for the time being, I'm reading this. Because it's silly and Jim Smith's illustrations and turns of phrase make me laugh.

Watching

Actually not had a whole lot of time to watch anything this week, but it's been 30 Rock all the way. Liz Lemon is my age and a bit tactless and ridiculous, and for that I love her.

{Liz Lemon stole my moves!}

Writing

{via here}

Y'know what, it's going well. The words are a chain of contradictory contradictions and clichés and such, but at the crucial halfway point (and at the time of writing this particular bit of the blog in between NaNo-ing), I find myself 3,000+ words over the halfway point target.

So, yes, Grammarly, thank you -- I forgive myself for not hitting the daily tallies every day because in spite of that, I am on target, babies. On target and a bit!

[UPDATE: I'm now on 29,230. This was not a wasted Sunday, oh no. I win at weekends.]

The Plan for today is to hit that 30,000 mark then I can pour a cheeky celebratory vino:

kick back and enjoy the rest of the evening (after I've done the ironing, natch).

Then spend the rest of the week playing catch-up because, yep, it's another busy one.

You've truly not devoted yourself to the NaNoWriMo cause until you find yourself typing in the queue at Costa or while standing on the Overground ...

Ah well. I can handle it, friends. 

As this Bill Murray gif will attest.

Doing that Social/Human Interaction Thang

Yes. That is correct. It is a thang. For I am totally hip and with it, and that's just how it is.

(I may have had too much coffee.)

On Wednesday I schlepped over to Soho to meet former workmate and all-round bastion of fabulosity, Miranda, for a spot o' supper. My work hours being flexi and hers being less so, I found myself in Foyles (big marvellous bookshop) for an indulgent hour prior to our get-together, able to fit in a little bit of semi-pretentious word-writing-stuff in the upstairs cafe, with a cup o' hot chocolate beside me.

Miranda rocked up shortly after half six, and we made our way past the temptation of ALL THE BOOKS and out of the shop, to hunt down the superlative Flat Iron Steak emporium. But alas! Alack! There was at least an hour's wait to be seated.

So off we pootled to the equally smashing Fernandez and Wells for Cabernet, chorizo omelettes and a long-overdue catch-up with additional life advice. And jolly lovely it was too.

{Blurry Beesville and Snowy | outside a bookshop, natch}

On Friday (after having the great fortune of randomly uncovering a bottle of Prosecco in the fridge that I had no idea was there) I wandered round to the home of Voicerox Lovely Diane for a final rehearsal with fellow Lovelies, as we were due to perform two songs at Pete's party on Saturday evening. There was Prosecco (standard fare for these rehearsals, I'm rather pleased to say), pizza, and fudgy nuts -- all there to warm the vocal chords for a productive rehearsal:

These folks are nothing if not perfectionists but don't be fooled by the serious faces -- there was much mirth to be had.

See?

D'aw, look at my Lovelies all smiley and ... er, blue? What the what?

{I'm blue-da-ba-dee-da-ba-dooby-dooby ... go home, QB, you're caffeinated}

Then -- breathe, QB, breathe -- on Saturday I was helping staff the bookstall at the church Christmas Fayre. Eeeee! Yes, I was in (shared) charge of ALL THE BOOKS.

{It's OK, this isn't really click-and-zoom-worthy, it's just representative of ALL THE BOOKS}

Made me want to open up a tiny second-hand bookshop of my own and tap into the spirit of my inner Bernard Black (but ever so slightly less antagonistic):

Sadly it didn't feel as though there was nearly as much footfall as in previous years -- the grim weather didn't help, nor did the competing event of original Star Wars cast members appearing at the local shopping centre. 

Still, we did pretty well considering we were selling our beautiful wares at a steal. And I was very well behaved. I only bought three for myself:

  

And then, and then I only went and won a bottle of champers on the bottle tombola! This, the day after I'd found an unopened bottle of Prosecco in the fridge. Yes. So much of yes.

That's Monday Christmas sorted, then.

Then, on Saturday evening, it was ... drum roll please ... Voicerox Pete's Gothicana-themed 40th birthday party!

And it was magnificent. The Voicerox Lovelies (and their Lovelies) were in residence, and all looked splendid -- there was some real attention to detail and a lot of emotional investment made in costumes and make-up by all the guests (and the host himself looked like he'd made a fair bit of effort). 

So, big gothic shout-outs to Pete and Nicola, Jos, Charlie, Kate and Steve, Alun and Christine, Martin and Ali, Dan, Jude and Tony, Diane and Simon, Gayle and Oli, and Lindsey and Nick and I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone because that would be awks.

There was singing (including our Jude taking to the piano with a rather spectacular rendition of Wuthering Heights)! There was cake! There was Prosecco! And there was dancing, to possibly the best party playlist ever. 

Top night.

{Jos looking darn minxy. Which is right and proper}

{Alun: much respect for the Paris solidarity,
my friend}

{Birthday boy Pete and
the Wheel of Organised Fortune}

{Ali and Martin | Martin, my birthday
buddy, rocking that rewired top hat}

{Lindsey and Gayle | hardcore to the last}

{Jude, wuthering those heights} 

{See, I knew I'd missed off a few photos -- there were no
shots of Charlie in the first draft of the post! And that
wouldn't have done at all.}

{I think I've just accounted for your injuries, Jos ... | "All siddown"}

{Who's that man and why is he wearing an Alun mask?
#weirdcameraangles}

I swear I took even more photos but I think the light swallowed a lot of people's heads. Soz. (I'm also waiting to find out if I can share any of the official photos because they are fantastic, so may need to update the post at a later date with more piccies. Photo booths at parties? Yes.)

As for moi? I was channelling this fabulous specimen of pseudo-neo-quasi-Goth:

NAILED IT.

{Photo by Jos}

No, actually really. I surprised myself. Double sequin suits are fashion-forward. You heard it here first. (And yes, the suit Scary Siobhan is wearing is indeed gold sequin not black, but c'mon. I had to buy something off eBay that I could wear more than once, right?)

Pete, the party was legendary. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we all did.

Pinterest Pin of the Week

Weekly Web Finds

... will just have to wait because I cannot be narfed to compile them all now.

Tune in next week for another instalment of Stuff QB Has Done in the Week.

Love you all.

Stay safe and fabulous.

qb xx