At work, we have instant coffee in large tins. Some people think as we always need a spoon when we go in the tin, let's stick one in. Others think it's disgusting to have a spoon in the tin, that has been touched by lots of hands. Either way, as the tin gets moved around the spoon sinks and disappears under the coffee, and towards the end of the tin people say "Why are there three teaspoons in here?"

At work, they are building a new unit; the plan was always for four buildings but they started with three until they built up tenants/demand. They have spent a while working at the back on Building 1, flattening the waste ground, digging away - I was surprised when all that appeared was a car park. Now they have razed a large part of the existing car park, ready to put the new building in the row with the other three, and it all makes sense...

Books read (21-23)
The Mammoth Book of Cult Comics, Ed. Ilya (2014)
All You Need Is Kill, Hiroshi Sakurazaka (2004)
Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut (1952)

Films watched (167-179) (2 at the cinema, 9 DVD, 2 tv)
Troll Hunter (rewatch)
Monsters (rewatch)
Harold and Maude
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Resident Evil: Extinction
Trading Places (rewatch)
Magic Mike
Rashomon
Goodfellas
The Hunt for Red October
Birdman
The Wolf of Wall Street
Demons

Gigs, comedy, clubs etc (36-37)
Dave Gorman (comedy, South Bank Centre, London)
Robin Ince (comedy, Bloomsbury Theatre, London)

Liked: Harold and Maude, Wolf of Wall Street, Birdman.

This morning I was going to do A, B and C.

I woke a bit late and got a new recipe for A. By the time I'd looked through recipes and ingredients, I realised if I was going to have a hope of finishing A I couldn't also do B. But if I was going to miss B I could then walk to C, it's a nice day. But I'd have to leave earlier, and I'm not dressed yet and haven't wrapped presents. Now I'm dressed but I haven't started A yet (which needs to chill for some hours) and I don't think there's time now unless I don't wrap presents. And as I have only belatedly decided to walk to C I have only belatedly put my iPod on to charge so it probably won't last the walk. If I'm walking I can bring wine instead of cola, but the only wine I have is fizzy and it wouldn't like a 4-mile yomp. If it will even fit in the bag with the presents. At least I won't have to carry my pudding (A) which I haven't made yet.

etcetera

This is why I have Lists.

EDIT: Where are my headphones? If I'd known I wouldn't be able to find my headphones I would have charged my phone instead of my iPod. Where is my other glove? Is it too late to walk to C yet?

If the Mark Bould Solaris book that came through my door the other day was from Secret Santa, it is a fabulous gift and thank you very much! I am ashamed to say that I think I have only watched the George Clooney version, at least in the last 15 years, so this will give me an excuse to find and watch the original :-)

Books read (19-20)
The Mirage, Matt Ruff (2012)
Mathematics of Life, Ian Stewart (2011)

Films watched (153-166) (6 at the cinema, 8 DVD)
Nightcrawler
Point Break
The Zero Theorem
In Fear
The Consequences of Love (rewatch)
Point Break (rewatch)
Leviathan
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Interstellar (rewatch) (IMAX)
Michael Clayton (rewatch)
CFC Premieres
Milk
Vertigo

Gigs, comedy, clubs etc (33-35)
AK/DK Synths (gig, Electrowerkz, London)
Much AStew About Nothing (comedy, Leicester Square Theatre, London)
Siro-A (dance/performance, Leicester Square Theatre, London)

Liked: Nightcrawler, Point Break, Interstellar, Snowpiercer, Vertigo, Milk i.e. most of the films.
I'd not watched Vertigo before and got to see it in 70mm on big cinema screen. I do not argue with it being up at the top of best film lists.
I had no memory of watching Michael Clayton but I must have done - as scenes played out they were all so familiar I had definitely seen them, but at no point could I remember anything about what happened next.
CFC Premieres was my film premiere (along with all films made on Cambridgeshire Film Consortium courses that year) which I hope to write more about at some point but it is midnight now and time to sleep.

Books read (15-18)
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (2012)
The Severed Streets, Paul Cornell (2014)
Indexing, Seanan McGuire (2013)
Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge (2014)

Films watched (139-152) (2 at the cinema, 9 DVD, 3 tv)
Big Fish
Maps to the Stars (rewatch)
Under the Skin (rewatch)
Short Term 12
Edge of Tomorrow
Zombieland
End of Watch
To Catch a Thief
Mission Impossible IV: Ghost Protocol
The Babadook
Ghostbusters (rewatch)
Mud
Killer Joe
One Day

Gigs, comedy, clubs etc (32)
Katherine Ryan (comedy, Leicester Square Theatre, London)

Had a very productive morning and late-last-night. To sort the study I moved most things into the living room, which has gone through the stage of looking worse before it gets better, and is not an absolutely higgledy piggledy tip. Still some work to do, I warned K the new housemate that I was planning to do this while she was away this weekend and she said that was ok...

The ratio of fiction to non-fiction, oversize, read/unread books has changed and they don't fit on their allocated shelves any more so I did some reorganising. The main shelves are now all fiction (with room for the anthologies). Most non-fiction has moved upstairs, I'm interested to see if it makes a difference what I read if I engage the fiction/non-fiction choice first and go to the relevant shelves rather than get distracted from worthy science by shiny fiction. Reference books (including work) and craft books (including filmmaking) stay in the study. Art books have moved to the living room where one can lounge on a sofa or at the coffee table with them.

The stationery box: two Airmail letter pads, as I said on Twitter, is probably more than I'll need in my remaining lifetime. One I inherited from my Dad. I used to get through a pad a year when my peak fanzine activity overlapped with not really having much internet. And eight ordinary writing paper pads, though the cheap ones (from Woolworths!) can be used as general paper. I can get rid of a lot of odd sized envelopes, not sure best how yet, and have a stack of blank notelets/greeting cards for a charity shop.

I loaded up the car after lunch and went first to return some curtains and buy some pillows (all went smoothly), then via C to the tip recycling centre and a huffing half hour getting rid of old pillows, bookcase, mouldy chipboard, glass, deckchair, duvets, soil and white spirit. Yay for being able to lift half a bookcase over my head. The recycling centre was full of staff in orange jackets, looking a bit like angry hornets, but helpfully calling out things to people who were wandering about confused like "Broken glass is Hardcore" and "Duvets are Bulky Items" and "Put the whole deckchair in Wood". I got rid of loads of manky rubbish that had been sitting around in the garden for a few weeks getting wet and mouldy.

Reversed the car into the garage in one clean swoop at home, no back and forths today! Cleaned the boot out, reset the car seats, and wiped down half the garage shelves ready to hold new things. Looking good!

I think the only thing that needs to be done this weekend now is laundry and a shower, and packing for work, then I can spend the rest of the afternoon/evening setting up my new phone and maybe nibbling away at another couple of areas like Gift Bags & Wrapping Paper, or craft projects, and working out where they should go. It would not be polite of me to leave the living room in this cluttered state for too long.

I have three boxes of old paper sf fanzines (i.e. ones I picked up from Memory Hole, not given contemporaneously) and another 1-2 boxes I was more an active participant with (i.e. mostly UK 1990s). I am loath to throw them out as so much effort and care went into the making of them. On the other hand, that's four boxes of paper I'll not read again and paper is heavy and my hand hurts. Does anyone still want paper fanzines? I'd be happy (especially for the 90s box) to pull out a run of Plokta, Banana Wings etc esp. if editors want some file copies. Also FAPA mailings which I think are in the loft.

It's worth an ask if there's something you want.

Books read (14)
Haunted, Chuck Palahniuk (2005)

Films watched (114-138) (18 at the cinema, 3 DVD, 4 tv) (second half of Cambridge Film Festival this month)
In Order of Disappearance (Cambridge Film Festival)
Attila Marcel (Cambridge Film Festival)
The Canal (Cambridge Film Festival)
Beloved (Cambridge Film Festival) (shorts)
M (Cambridge Film Festival) (rewatch)
Joy of Man's Desiring (Cambridge Film Festival)
Life Lessons (Cambridge Film Festival) (shorts)
20,000 Days on Earth (Cambridge Film Festival)
Stations of the Cross (Cambridge Film Festival)
Tasting Menu (Cambridge Film Festival)
Down By Law (Cambridge Film Festival)
Finsterworld (Cambridge Film Festival)
The Distance (Cambridge Film Festival)
2001: A Space Odyssey (rewatch)
Matchstick Men
A Poem in Exile (Cambridge Film Festival)
The Dance of Reality (Cambridge Film Festival)
Twins 2 (Cambridge Film Festival) (shorts)
Way of the Gun
Clue (rewatch)
Maps to the Stars
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (rewatch)
Rambo: First Blood
A Time to Kill

Gigs, comedy, clubs etc (31)
Suuns (gig, Village Underground, London)

Doing Live Journal like it's 2003! After an epic battle at beckyc's I got 20 Questions right, and now it's my turn to do one.

I'm thinking of a film. Ask questions with a Yes/No answer until you can correctly guess it. With the old rules a No would mean it's someone else's turn to guess, but we're a lot quieter these days and you can probably carry on.

Edit: The Wizard of Oz, guessed by beckyc. My favourite questions were Unnatural Death + Songs.