Classic Cars

Long time no write. It's my fault. Well, obviously. It's a bit funny, because I do have stuff to write, I'm just not been able to. Don't worry, I'll not be abandoning you soon, you just have to be patient and before you know it, everything'll be back to normal. Or rather, as normal as they can be!

I'm posting pictures about cars, today! Random, I know! But hey, just doing what it says on the tin! ;) Anyways, in church today, and it being Father's Day, there was something for the 'blokes', a Classic Cars Show! Quite a few cars were on display in the parking lot. I might be an F1 girl, but there's only so much I know about cars, and my car-knowledge is solely restricted to F1, anyways. But some of the cars were/are gorgeous, and I thought I'd take pictures and post it up here, especially since I've been promising pictures of my holiday and haven't got round to sorting them out and posting them. I didn't have my camera with me, but the one on my phone seems to have done a good job!

But anyways, here are the pictures. I haven't got a clue about any of the cars, so there'll be no description from me. The only thing I can say is they're fabulous. Enjoy! (There was a car on display on the cruise, that I can only guess was a 'classic car, so I'm adding it here! It's the first car). Please ignore my photography skills; and the people, it goes without saying! Haha.

Classic Cars show:

There were more cars, but I couldn't take more pictures, as my cousin was in a hurry to get home, and not all of them looked nice to me, anyways.

So yeah, that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be back sooner, rather than later! :)

I'm actually alive and well!

I haven't blogged in ages, and I haven't got any real excuses. But I'm back now, and that's all that matters, right? Right?

Anyways, I've been back from my holiday for exactly a week, and it's high time things went back to normal, in relation to blogging and tweeting. It's like I lost all motivation to do both, and thinking about it, it's probably related to the fact that Premier League season is over. There are no Arsenal games to look forward to, until pre-season! But at least the World Cup starts soon, and that's something to look forward to. The French Open is on now actually, and I've been watching it, but I don't really feel up to blogging or tweeting about that. Maybe when it's into the second week...

Back to my holiday. I did enjoy it loads, and considering I was sort of dreading it, that's a massive result! I'll be writing about it and posting the all-important pictures over the next couple of weeks. I took loads and loads of pictures, a lot of them rubbish, by the way. I'll probably use only a few, and maybe I'll put the rest on Flickr, or something. I'll probably blog about Arsenal first, though. I missed the last 2 games, and my feelings towards both were a complete contrast, well obviously, seeing as we won one and lost the other!

On a random note, I was watching 'Terminator' the other day on the iPlayer, and I think it's the first time I've actually watched it and understood it. I probably watched it when I was younger, but the only bit I remembered was when he was plucking his eye out and showing us his bones made of metal! Anyways, I couldn't help but think, when the Terminator's butt was shown at the start, how the Governor of California must feel, knowing that the whole world has seen his butt, or if they haven't seen it, that they know where to go to find it? I'm sure poor Arnold doesn't think about that, but I thought it was hilarious, either way!

Anyways, that's all for now, but I'LL BE BACK! (just couldn't resist! ;) )

The Magic of the Cup. Actually, make that the Magic of Fulham.

I wrote this post last week for Soccerfanbase, but as it could not be posted, due to server issues, I thought I might as well post it here!
I haven't had much time to blog my usual drivel, and I don't know if I'll get the time to do so before I return to England next week, but I'll try to write at least one post, before I leave, 'try' being the operative word! :)



~~~~~~~~
They've been loads of amazing football stories this season, good and bad. Newly-promoted Birmingham on-course to remain in the Premier League for another season, possibly as high as 9th- amazing. Liverpool struggling for anything resembling the form they were in last season and will probably end up outside the Top 4- shocker. Leeds knocking Manchester United out of the FA cup in the 3rd round, at old Trafford- special. Portsmouth, relegated and broke, getting to the FA Cup final against all odds- the stuff of dreams.


So many more unbelievable stories this season, but the best of all, unquestionably has to be the achievements of Fulham FC. No, not their performance in the Premier League; they've been unspectacular at best. But their achievements in Europe- the Europa League- have been spectacular. How?


Fulham have only ever qualified for Europe twice in their history, the second time being this season, after finishing 7th in the Premier League last season which was a huge achievement in itself. Thier European achievement started against FK Vėtra, a Lithuanian football club, in the 3rd qualifying round. They won that 6-0 on aggregrate. No sweat. Then on to the play-offs, where they saw off Russian club FC Amkar Perm, 3-2 on aggregate.


In the group stages, they were in Group E with Roma, FC Basel and CSKA Sofia. Getting to the knock-out round was not easy, and they had to rely on a win away to FC Basel on the last day. Things looked on track after Boby Zamora put them 2-0 up at half-time, but Basel came out fighting in the second half, and even though Fulham went 3-1 up, Basel pulled it back to 3-2 with about 3 minutes left. But Fulham held on for the crucial win, seeing them into the knock-out stages.


When the draw for the knock-out rounds was made, it was widely-held that Fulham would not make it as they had been paired with Shakhtar Donetsk (current UEFA cup holders) in the round of 32, with the possibility of facing either Juventus or Ajax in the round of 16, both clubs with pedigree in Europe. Not an easy task, and it would not have been a shame, losing to any of those teams.


So Fulham beat Shakhtar 3-2 on aggregate (a home win and an away draw) to go through to the last-16 where they faced Juventus. A huge task this, which only got bigger after losing the away leg 3-1. Meaning they had to win the home leg at Craven Cottage by a margin of 3. And with Juventus scoring inside 2 minutes, it looked like curtains. Zamora equalised shortly after, and when Trezeguet was sent off in the first half, Fulham could sense an opportunity. A couple of goals by Gera in each half, and suddenly, Fulham only needed one more goal to go through. Juventus were holding on gamely, and it took a beauty by Clint Dempsey in the 82nd minute to put them through. Unbelievable result, and unbelievably, Fulham were in the quarter-finals!


Wolfsburg were their quarter-finals opposition, with the possibility of facing Hamburg or Standard Liege. Fulham beat Wolfsburg 2-1 at home, but with the away goal, Wolfsburg had the advantage. But a Bobby Zamora goal in the first minute away at Wolfsburg ensured Fulham won the tie 3-1 on aggregate, setting up a semi-final meeting with Hamburg.


With the final meant to be held at the HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg's home ground, Fulham were clearly the underdogs. The away leg was first, endind 0-0. Fulham have an amazing home record in European competition, unbeaten in 15 at this stage, so that ought to have given them some confidence. But with main striker Bobby Zamora struggling with an achilles injury, it seemed like a game too far for the club and this feeling only intensfied after Mladen Petric gave Hamburg the lead with a stunning free-kick. But if there's anything we've learned from Fulham in Europe this season, it is that they are fighters. 2 quick goals in 10 minutes gave Fulham the lead with about 15 minutes to go. With a place in the finals at stake, and a major piece of Fulham history about to be written, Fulham held on.



So Fulham FC in the finals of the Europa League, in only their second-ever season in Europe! Magical. Amazing feat this, and it was only fitting that they were able to enjoy the moment in front of the Fulham faithful at Craven Cottage. They were unfancied at the start and rightly so, but they defied the odds to make it to the finals on their own merit, where they will face Atletico Madrid at the Nordbank Arena. Who would have thought it, that Fulham would be England's sole representative in Europe at this stage? Unbelievable. Huge credit to Roy Hodgson who has transformed Fulham since he took over in 2007, and I am pretty sure no one -not even Fulham's most intense rivals- would begrudge the team and the manager, were they to win the Europa League. There is no question who the Manager of the Season ought to be this season, and if it turns out to be anyone other than Roy Hodgson, they would be an underserved winner.


Make no mistake they are massive underdogs for the trophy, but come the 12th May, every football fan in England will (and should) be rooting for Fulham, and it would be the perfect ending to this fairy tale, were they to lift the trophy on that night.


Come on Fulham, the whole of England is behind you!

~~~~~~~~

Other side of the world. No, I'm not in Australia!

Hello! Made it safely across the pond. Obviously :)

Really long flight. Didn't sleep much on it, though, as I busied myself with the in-flight entertainment. Can't remember all I watched, but it included 'This Is It', Glee, the 'Inbetweeners' and 'the Invention of Lying' (didn't actually finish it).

I was sat at the window-seat, meaning I could take loads of aerial-view pictures, but also meaning I only left my seat once- the same time the dude next to me left his seat! I find it really difficult to bug whoever's next to me to excuse me. I always feel bad! Well, next time, choose the bloody aisle-seat! Or maybe not, just grow a pair!

Anyways, I took a few pictures, although I felt like a silly tourist doing it, until I saw the dude next to me doing the same!

I tend to always end up sitting close to the wings!

Aren't clouds such fascinating things? When I was younger, I always wanted to touch them, if not for those damned windows! Still want to, actually...

Not the clearest of pictures, but that's actually a ship, at the top of the ripple in the centre!

The descent begins...

Zoomed in...

The 'famous' pond, no?

Almost there, as the wing gets uglier.

And a couple more ships/boats...

Landing soon, the pilot says. Well, obviously!

The views upon landing- pretty rubbish, so didn't bother with more pictures.

No take-off or landing dramatics. Unfortunate, as I like a bit of drama! Oh well, maybe next time...

So great flight. We were meant to leave at about 11.15am, but didn't leave until almost 12pm. That's Virgin for you! But as it was a direct flight, I could forgive them anything. Didn't land until about 10pm. Rough guesstimate, as I was too tired and that info wasn't sticking.

Then a bit of drama at the Immigration Desk. I like drama, but not when I'm tired and just want to get into the nearest bed! Anyways, you had like a couple of cards you were meant to fill in and hand in at the desk. I'd filled mine, but I left the address bit blank. Meant to be staying at my Uncle's, but I couldn't for the life of me remember the address.

I'd filled it loads of times on various forms- when applying for my visa, booking my ticket, checking in, and I even had to fill it on my boarding pass. But I couldn't remember it. I had it in my email, but couldn't access it on my phone.

But yeah, I get to the desk and the dude's like 'Where's the address of where you're staying?'. I'm like 'Err, I can't remember, but I've got a phone number!' He's like 'Go speak to this dude'. I go to speak to him and he's like 'What do you want me to do? You ought to have filled in all this information from the UK'. Blah, blah, blah.

He later becomes reasonable and says he'll get someone to call the house to get the address. I'm like 'Err, not sure there's anyone home, actually!' and give him my sister's number to call, as I didn't have my Aunt or Uncle's number. My sister's in Gainesville, Florida but we were in Miami, and he's like 'Sorry, we can't call Gainesville from here'.

At this point, I'm getting really pissed off, as it's just a bloody address which I'm sure they've got on their system somewhere. I was quite willing to go back to London, though that'll have just been stupid. But they didn't want to let me in without the stupid address. Arrgghh!

Luckily, or unluckily to some extent, as my Aunt was waiting for me at the Airport, they were able to get in touch with her to get the address. Everyone else on the flight had already gone through before I was allowed through.

In all honesty though, I'm not surprised I couldn't remember the address! I may have stayed there for 3 months the last time I was there about 4 years ago, and according to my passport 3 more other times (I only remember 2!), but it's got more numbers than letters! Amazing! And considering my track-record with numbers...

This isn't the real address, but it's close:

19864 NE 232 ST

Miami, FL

33196

All I could remember was Miami, Florida. But really though, why all the numbers?!

Anyways, I wasn't impressed with the whole thing. As Fergie would probably say, 'Typical Canadians!'. Everyone else was nice to me, though- the dude at the baggage area who helped me find my box and load it unto the trolley, and the dude at the baggage-scanner who helped me re-load it. Was in too much of a mood to notice and be nice back, apologies!

Finally got into the car probably about an hour and a half after landing. It felt like longer, though. That's all the moaning I'll be doing, hopefully!

So that was Tuesday. It's Thursday today and I've just been sleeping! Did catch Jose's Inter dump Barca out of the Champions League and reach the final, though. Not yet sure if that's a good thing or not, but AM I BOVVERED?! It's got nothing to do with Arsenal so a massive 'whatever!' Not jealous, not jealous. Ofcourse not.

I also watched Eastenders, last week's Omnibus on my laptop. Don't even ask how I managed that! But I shan't be missing any Eastenders while I'm away-awesome.

Anyways, the parents should be arriving today and we should be driving down to Gainesville for Friday morning's graduation. Should be fun! I hope...

PS: I've updated (or I'll be doing it as soon as I'm done here!) the pictures I said I would in the last post.

Will try and blog at least once more before we live on the Cruise on Sunday.

Laters! :)

Arsenal in April- Heartbreakers. Still love the club/team to bits!

So I haven't mentioned Arsenal properly for a few games, now. How very remiss of me! I think the home game against Barcelona was the last game I talked about. Poor. Very poor.

After the Barca home game was the Wolves game at the Emirates. I was at that game, and wow, it wasn't good for the heart, seriously! Wolves defended for their lives and we knew that a draw just wasn't going to do. Anything less than a win ans we were out of the title race. The match was even worse for me, because just before half-time, I was in excruciating pain. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I hadn't eaten all day and my left side was terribly constricted! Ironic that food was being sold at the game ofcourse, but I couldn't actually stand up, not least walk to get some. So there I was in physical pain and emotional pain as well, a few minutes to the end. To make things worse, I thought the referee had only added 3 minutes of extra time, so when 3 minutes had passed and we hadn't scored, I was expecting him to blow the final whistle and I was already in tears. But as they say, the rest is history! Nikky B as usual, sticking it up to his doubters. I can tell you that after the goal went in, I went crazy and I think my hunger-pain disappeared as well! How easy emotions change in football, right?


[Got one or 2 pictures, which I'll try and post later- not got my memory card with me at the moment]
Here they are!

'United Colours of Arsenal', I think it says.

Alex Song is so 'Mr Cool', isn't he?

 Tomas and Thomas having a moment during a stoppage. Thomas can't be asking for hair-tips, surely?!

Nikky B, super-sub!

 After the goal. How I was able to take this picture, I'll never know! Things I do for this blog, eh? ;)

Final whistle. Let's all laugh at Wolves! Shame about the tears, but that's what you get for time-wasting ALL GAME!

I said a couple, I've posted seven. Well, shoot me! ;)


Next game, Barca away. Which we lost ofcourse, thanks to a very Messy four-some! Messi by name, messy by nature! See what I did there?

We got off to an unbelievable start though, Bendtner scoring with practically our first attack of the game after good work by Theo and the feeling after that goal went in was unbelievable! If only the game ended there and then. But barely 5 minutes later, Messi went up the other end and scored. And he scored 3 more later, for good measure! In all honesty, he didn't have to work much for the goals hence them being messy, but he was in the right place at the right time and he took them well.

Champions League dream over, and we couldn't have lost to a better team. Although now that they're trailing Inter 1-3 after the first leg of the semi-final, maybe we could have had them? Huge 'maybe', considering the absentees we had and how unbelievably brilliant Inter are, defensively.

Next game, Sp*rs away. I was at the Away Screening at the Emirates and boy, did that defeat hurt! I was more angry than anything. Not at us, but at Sp*rs. Like, how dare they beat us? Of all times to choose to break their 11-year hoodoo! The tramps! But yeah, losing 2-1 hurt. Not least because we could have actually won it in the end, if not for Gomes making those ridiculous saves from Robin, making his first appearance since November. Great to see Robin back though, even though we lost.


View from Club Level. Not a bad one, is it?! If you look closely, you can see my reflection and my camera's, in the plexiglass!

Ah, the worst game of all. Wigan. I can't believe I'm actually revisiting the game in my head. It ought to be buried deep in head, in the section called 'Do not Access'. If I thought Wolves was painful, or that the Sp*rs game hurt, this was a million times worse! Like seriously though, how did we lose 3-2, after being 2-0 up with 10 minutes to go? Hard to comprehend. The irony of it all was that the player whose goal started it all, Ben Watson, is an avid Arsenal fan and his parents are even season-ticket holders. Couldn't he delay his brilliant performance to the next game? I hope his parents didn't let him back in the house, by the way! I jest, I jest. I watched the game at home with my Aunt (an Arsenal fan) and her friend (doesn't care a jot about football) and I got laughed at for crying. It's the worst I've felt in a long time about football and being laughed at was really helpful. Not. Sp*rs beating Chelsea also meant that 3 points for us and we would have been back in the title race. Big time! But we messed it up. Season over.

Next game then, yesterday's, was home to Manchester City. I was at the game as well. What a snooze-fest! It wasn't a bad game watching in the stands, as the atmosphere at the game more than made up for the lack of real action on the pitch. The best thing was the booing reserved specifically for Ade, and the cheers for Vieira, especially when Patrick got subbed for Ade. I didn't boo, as that would have just been a waste of energy, but it was hilarious, all the same. The dude behind us had a kid next to him and I kind of felt for the little boy. His ears must have been stung by all the swearing! Swearing at Ade, and also the referee (he was pretty rubbish, though)! 'The referee's a W****R'.

Anyways, nil nil was totally unexpected, considering the attacking riches of City alone! But that's what we got. Considering it was my last game of the season, I was a bit disappointed. But nil-nil definitely is better than a defeat- we'd lost 3 games in a row prior to the game, so it definitely was a possibility! Glad we didn't lose. And seeing Robin in the flesh after so long was good, too. And Vieira (first time, actually) and Toure, too! Definitely not Ade. He's dead to me, isn't he?

[Took a few pictures, but not on my camera, so it might be a while until I'm able to get them. Certainly not for another 3 weeks, at least! Or actually, might get her to email them to me...]

I was sat next to Fabrez too, alongside Chris as usual. Great to finally meet you, mate!

So yeah, that's been Arsenal over the past few games. Two more to go, and hopefully we win both. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to follow both games live, but I'll definitely check that up first thing, as soon as I can! Maybe it's a good thing I'll be away as I don't really care who wins the title now and I'm sure I'd be sick to death of seeing them celebrate, and the media reaction.

Or maybe something totally newsworthy will occur, and it'll be buried under! Can't think of what, though...
Or actually, maybe Chelsea and Man United will both be found guilty of match-fixing, this season. That'll do. That'll do nicely! ;)

Missed me?

Hello! Long time no write. I've actually had stuff to write, just not the time! I'll write a separate Arsenal-related post, but this one's for my randomness!

I'll start with my favourite song of late. 'Fireflies' by Owl City. Don't know why I love it, seeing as I don't even know other Owl City songs. It's just a gorgeous one!




Ah, so I had my Insurance exam on Tuesday. Very interesting experience! I was finally able to study and was as prepared as I could be for it without any classes, but I kinda figured it might be a bit too much. Especially as I knew there was going to be an entire section involving calculations, and not only I'm I pretty rubbish at Maths, I couldn't for the life of me, figure out what the calculation was! Great preparation, eh?

But yeah, exam day. After an all-nighter(ish) the night before (nothing new there!), I found my way to the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria. It was a 3-hour exam, standard for me over the last couple of years now, so not a big deal. 3 sections. First one, 8 compulsory questions; second one, 1 compulsory question- the calculations one; final section, answer 3 of 5.

It started at 1.30pm, and an hour and a half in (or less!), I was done! Or rather, I'd written all I could think of at the time. That was a first for me. Being a geek and someone who loves writing, I always tend to almost not have enough time to write all I feel like! I couldn't leave early, though. I prefer staying to the end, even though I'm done in time. It's the same with Coursework. I've never handed Coursework in early, and it's because I'm worried that if I leave early or submit it early, I'd remember something I forgot to add or a mistake I failed to correct, and it'd be too late to make things right!

So yeah, an hour and a half in unknown territory. A few (lots of) doodles on the question paper, a trip to the loo (first time ever during an exam!), a few points/answers I remembered to add and a horrible attempt at Maths. I know I'm bad, but I realised I was shocking! Don't know whether it was my sleep-addleed brain, but I was having problems with what seemed like a simple calculation! Like really, how hard is it to find 75% of say, 55,000? Don't you go: 75/100 multiplied by 55,000? No? Anyways, whatever I tried just didn't seem to work, so I had to go for a 'cheat'. Half of 55,000, then half of the answer, gives you 25%. Subtract from the original 55,000, and you've got 75%! Maybe I should have just gone for this from the start, but at least, it helped while away some time.

I did find the whole situation hilarious, which was good really. I do remember my worst exam, though- I cried during that one. But that was what, 8 years ago in secondary school and I was about... 13. I chose to do Chemistry and I was totally unserious and didn't read for the exam. The predictable happened and I was totally clueless during the exam. I was so upset, I tore up the exam paper and bawled my eyes out! I failed, ofcourse. I didn't think twice about changing from Science to 'Arts' the next semester. Wise move, wise move!

But yeah, this one definitely wasn't on the same level of bad. I did enjoy it, perverse as that may sound. I did the best I could, and I guess that's all one can ask for, really!

So that was last week Tuesday. And this Tuesday, I'm off on my 'holiday'! Holiday in inverted commas, as being with your family for 3 whole weeks definitely isn't a holiday. But wait, does that mean the past 5 or so years have technically been a holiday? Erm... Anyways, point is, if I wanted a proper holiday, I'd go away with friends, away from the parents.

Haha, I just remembered my last post. Wouldn't it have been funny if afterall, I didn't end up going, after the whole Ash-Cloud debacle? That would have been hilarious. But it seems the Ash cloud didn't think it would have been so funny afterall and has sufficiently cleared. So all things being equal, I'll be off on Tuesday. For 3 whole weeks! Sister's graduation on Friday, Cruise Sunday-Sunday (I think), then... I'm not sure what's next, really. I think the whole trip can go either of two ways- a bloody marvellous time, or the worst (or close) 3 weeks of my life! My head is saying the latter, but hopefully it's not. I'd settle for somewhere in-between, really! Not that I've got terribly high standards. As long as I'm able to keep up with football, F1 and tennis, I should be alright. I hope to God I'm able to ger proper internet access during the week on the cruise. It'll be a disaster if I'm not. That's like the most important week of all, sports-wise! Not sure I'll survive otherwise. I've realised of late, how important the internet is to me. How did I survive, otherwise??

Anyways, enough moaning. I do hope I'm able to blog loads when I'm away. Doubt I'll be able to blog before Tuesday and if I don't, I'll be sure to post a quick one when I'm settled. But if you don't hear from me, dearest blog by Thursday, I've probably been blown into a million pieces in the air! Just messin' :)

9th April. Torn!

An important date for two reasons- tickets to the last game of the season, home to Fulham went on sale; I had an American visa interview.

Pre-visa interview...

Been looking forward to getting tickets to the Fulham game, because I think (hope) we'll win the title that day! One massive problem, though; I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make it or not! My sister's studying in America and it's her graduation end of this month, so the plan was to go for the graduation, subject to me getting a visa, as my last one expired a while back. My parents are meant to be going as well, but they'll be going from Nigeria.

No problem there as her graduation is on the 30th of April, and since the Fulham game is on the 9th of May, I ought to be able to make both. That seemed perfect, until I found out about a cruise that we're meant to be going for! It's been organised and paid for by my Uncle's family, who my sister stays with during holidays and what-not. Nothing wrong with that of-course, until you realise the cruise ends on the 9th of May.
9th of May, of all dates! Why why why?! 9th of May, I meant to be at the Emirates watching the boys lift that blasted Premier League trophy! Why couldn't it end on the 8th or something, so I can dash back here in time!? I was absolutely gutted to find out about the conflict.

But ah, there might not need to be any conflict if I don't get the visa! It's not guaranteed that I'll be issued the visa. If I'm not, I'll miss my sister's graduation, but I'll be able to make the Fulham game. If I'm issued the visa, I'll be going for the graduation and cruise but will likely be a misery personified on the 9th of May!
Totally torn as to whether or not I'd prefer to get the visa or not. I guess it'd be brilliant to see my family- not seen my mum since August, my dad since November and my sister since... Summer 2007? Not too sure, actually! It's not that much of a big deal really as I speak to them all the time and I'm sure I'll be seeing them some other time soon.
As for the graduation, I don't know whether it's that important to my sister that we're there or not. Personally, don't care much about them. My graduation for my 1st degree was in November last year (odd date really, as Uni finished ages ago in May and I'd already started my Masters!) and I wasn't too fussed about it- if not because my parents were coming down for it, I was seriously considering not turning up. The fact that I was getting an award didn't even do much to make me excited about it. I've got another graduation coming up in July; whether I go for it is another question- got to make sure I don't remind my parents about it! :)
In essence, I don't consider graduations as hugely important events- not too sure why. But then again, there aren't many occasions I consider important! I'm not even big on birthdays. A bit interesting though, that I consider Arsenal winning the trophy as important, but that's another matter!
So yeah, graduation and cruise or Arsenal v Fulham? Not my decision to make I guess, because if the visa's issued, I'll definitely be on my bike. It's just a question of whether or not I'll be disappointed about the outcome of the appointment. I reckon it's 50/50.

To make things even slightly trickier, the Fulham tickets go on sale (to Red members) on the same morning as my interview. Tickets WILL be sold out before I find out whether or not I've been issued the visa, so do I buy the tickets, just in case I don't get the visa? There IS a huge possibility that I wouldn't get the visa. Would be really upset if I lose out on the tickets, as well as the visa. That would be an epic fail!
I agonised for a while about what to do, but as it turned out, the tickets went on sale at 10am and I had to leave home at 9.55am! It wouldn't have been that much of a problem as I've got free internet on my phone, except I had to leave my phone at home as you're not allowed to take electronic devices into the Embassy. Talk about agony! Not only did I have to worry about the visa, I also had to worry about the tickets; hoping they'd not be sold out by the time I get home if I'm refused the visa. Add that to the fact that my phone is like an extension of me and I feel I'm unable to function properly without it and you have a very nervous girl and a terrible few hours coming up! I also have to wear a watch, for obvious reasons! I haven't worn one since my first year. I'm so used to checking my phone for the time, I'm probably going to forget about the watch and keep looking for my phone, all the time!

Anyways, I got the Embassy in time for my 12pm appointment, even though I end up having to wait until about 2pm before I finally get interviewed and told whether or not I got the Visa.


Post-visa interview...
Before I went to bed the night before, I kinda concluded that it wouldn't be that terrible missing the Arsenal game afterall, although I'd be crushed if we actually did win the League and I couldn't be there. Family ought to be more important really, although Arsenal's technically 'family', if you know what I mean! But yeah, I figured it would be more awesome than not, if I got the Visa. Took me a few days to reach that conclusion!

So, did I get the visa or not? Ofcourse I did! I wasn't totally sure I'd get it for a couple of reasons, but I did get it. The interview didn't even last that long, well, if you discount the waiting period!
But how did I feel? I was surprised for a brief second, then I was gutted! Sounds strange, doesn't it?! But I realised that it meant I'll miss the Fulham game (at least I didn't buy tickets!). I was a bit surprised about how gutted I was, but then I've invested so much time, energy and emotion, not to mention money, into the season and it would hurt really bad if we win the title and I'm not there. It's been such a roller-coaster season and the winning the title would mean a whole lot. Ofcourse, there's no guarantee we'll win it, but I think we can! I kind of understand just a little bit how our injured players feel not being able to play a part in matches due to factors outside your control. Now I know I'll not be there, not sure whether or not I want us to win it now! Haha, just joking. It'll be amazing if we do, given our season and the fact that no one gave us a chance in hell at the start of the season. Even if we don't win it, they'll all be eating their words!

So I was gutted. That was 2pm. I got home at about 3.30pm and as the day wore on, I started to feel less disappointed and more excited! I ought to, really! I'm off to America for a couple of weeks soon! Not been since 2006Will be seeing my sister, parents, cousins and possibly friends! Shame my brother'll not be there, as he's got exams- I've not seen him since the last time I saw my sister. But yeah, the excitement's taking over now! So graduation end of the month then an Eastern Caribbean cruise for a week! There had better be WiFi so I can follow the penultimate game of the season too, if not the excitement will surely be tempered! Got to book tickets soon, but I can't wait! I'm sure I'll find someone who's going to the Fulham game and if it looks like we will win the title, I'll get them to take loads of pictures for me! All's not lost! :)


So that's how Friday went. Mixed emotions through-out, but I guess the right result in the end...

It means the last game I'll be at this season is the Man City one on the 24th, and it should be a cracker! We've got to win- it'll keep our title challenge on track and it would be lovely to see the smile wiped off Ade's face as well as dent City's top 4 hopes. And we get to see Toure and Vieira! Looking forward to it. Oh, I actually went for the Wolves game at the Emirates the other day. Forgot to post pictures up, so maybe I'll do that in the next couple of days.
First though, it's the small matter of the North London Derby up next for us on Wednesday! Massive massive game! A draw's not good enough- a win means we do the double over Sp*rs, keep the pressure on Chelsea and United, and that St. Totteringham's Day is not too far away! Come on Arsenal!

Oh wow, just realised I haven't mentioned Messi, Barcelona or our Champions League KO on here at all! Maybe I'll give them a proper mention when I'm posting Wolves pictures. Or maybe not...

Good day/ Bad day? Football, wedding, F1...

Saturday was a mixed bag. Will try and make sense of it below:

Bad day: Fell asleep watching F1 early in the morning and missed Q1!
Bad day: Lewis getting knocked out in Q2 and being out-qualified by Jenson (11th and 4th on the grid)
Good day: Vettel grabbing pole position on a brilliant run that was pure controlled aggression
Bad day: Having to leave home to go for the wedding (see previous posts) just before 3pm, meaning the only way I could follow the game was via twitter
Good day: Arsenal nicking what seemed like the winner with about 15 minutes to go, thanks to Nasri
Bad day: Having to hang about at Liverpool Street station for about 30minutes, waiting for a couple of friends. (But at least I could sit down and concentrate on following the game on twitter)
Very bad day: Birmingham delivering one hell of a sucker-punch by equalising in injury time! Not seen it yet, but apparently it was a freak-goal, to make it even worse! My heart literally sank to my feet!
Bad day: Chelsea scum hitting Aston Villa for 7. Seven?! 
Bad day: Man Utd winning 4-0, meaning we're 4 points off the lead
Bad day: Our players being given unbelievable stick on twitter
Good day: Seeing and hanging out with some of my mates
Bad day: Being UNBELIEVABLY bored at one point, that I wanted to cry! No, my friends aren't boring, I just wasn't sat with them at that point
Good day: Taking some pictures before going home, like finally! No pictures of the Bride and Groom- they're pretty much hard to get at a Reception, especially if you're late, like we definitely were. And no, my friends and I don't tend to wear similar outfits- this was a special instance! See previous post.

Esther & I:

Me, obviously:

Oyinda, Toyin and Esther:

Esther & Toyin:

Chris & I:

I am terribly anti-social. Well actually, it depends on what we're doing really. I hate being in places where there are LOADS of people. Don't like it. Well, minus the Emirates ofcourse. But having said that, the more people there are somewhere, the more likely I feel all alone, which is the reason why I'm not sure if I can go to the Ems on my own.
I much prefer hanging out with a small selection of people I know; I prefer doing active stuff- bowling, paint-balling, go-karting; I'm not really a fan of clubs (although I did love going out with my football team at Uni last year- that was fun!); I hate small talk (like really! It's so pointless and I'm terrible at it anyways!). Okay, I'll stop going on about it and get back to 'Good day/ Bad day?'!

Bad day: Players STILL being given unbelievable stick on twitter- probably because Match of the Day was on at the time
Bad day: Both of my batteries running out 10-15 minutes before getting home
Good day: Getting into the cab home with a really nice and chatty driver- and it wasn't small talk!
Bad day: Having blotchy thighs, thanks to the sequins on the bottom bit of my dress! There was one particular sequin directly on my thigh and was practically ripping into my skin when walking. I tried ripping it off, but I could only make it worse.

(Yes, I did take a picture of my thighs, just to post on here! Well, it's my blog, so I'll do whatever I want! ;) I can assure you it looks worse in real-life, though)
Good day: Getting home just in time to catch Roger Federer's game! Get in! He won ofcourse: 6-3, 6-3 against Nicolas Lapentti
Good day: Finally getting to bed!

As I'm a positive person, I'll conclude that was a good day, minus the Arsenal result, bu
Well, as it's Saturday morning at the moment, I'll continue up to what's happening currently! :)

Good day: Waking up at 6am in time to watch the Australian GP. Woop!
Bad day: Having to listen to Jonathan Legard. He's my least favourite F1 commentator in the BBC. Martin Brundle is my favourite and guess what? They're paired together!
Good good day: The race getting off to a flier, with Lewis moving up 4 spots from the start into 7th, with Jenson dropping a couple into 6th! Woop! Button tapped into Alonso's Ferrari, who then crashed into Schumacher! Other crashes, as well. Just the first lap- wow start! LOTS of cool overtaking manouvres. And oh! LEWIS JUST OVERTOOK BUTTON! Brilliant move! Oh my wow! And Button's had to pit for a change of tyres. Hmm.
Loads of pit-stops- a bit confusing at the moment, as the timing screens aren't up and it's hard to tell who's in what position! Just on Lap 10, with rain still forecast. This IS manic! (I am listening to 5Live radio commentary in addition to BBC 1's, though!)
Oh no! Vettel's out! From the lead as well! Jenson was in 2nd, so he leads! Bummer for Seb, brilliant for Button! Wow! PS- 2nd race in a row (off pole position) that he's had car problems! He managed to end up 4th last race, but he's out this time. Gutted for him though. The Red Bull's quick, but keeps having reliability issues. But Lewis is up to third! Still 28 laps to go, I think! (Or 30. Out of 58). It might end as a McLaren 1-2 (Jenson and Lewis, in any order!)- the driver ahead of Lewis is quite a slow car, and Lewis is on his tail at the moment. That really would be brilliant! Even more so, if Lewis wins...

I'll post this now, and will probably update it at the end of the race...


Update:
Would you believe it? Yet another Birmingham sucker-punch! Howard WEBB kinda messed us up yesterday, and guess who messed Lewis up today? Mark WEBBER!
Basically, Lewis was in 5th (as he pitted for new tyres) and catching up to the back of the 2 Ferraris in front of him with a couple or so laps to go, with Webber behind him. Lewis was about to pass the first Ferrari- he almost made it stick, but Webber came up behind and tapped him! Bummer! If he hadn't been tapped, he'd have probably passed the 2 Ferraris, and the other car ahead, and ended up 2nd, giving McLaren a brilliant 1-2! But Lewis ended up 6th, with Jenson winning. It really was Birmingham all over again, Webber's tap almost at the end is the equivalent of that stoppage time equaliser yesterday! Lewis ended up 6th, from 11th position, but it could have been so much better- same as us, yesterday! It's just before 9am, and it feels like a bad day, already.

Anyways, enough drama for 2 days, won't you say?!

Forever young.

Was going to publish a post I just wrote, but I think my thoughts can be summed up aptly:

I don't want to live forever, but I want to be forever young. I think...

Soo random!

Quite a few clusters of 'B' names have caught my eye of late, in sports- well, at least football and cricket!

In the Champions League quarters/semis draw:
Barcelona;
Bayern Munich;
Bordeaux.

In the Premier League:
Birmingham;
Blackburn;
Bolton;
Burnley.

In the England cricket team playing against Bangladesh:
Bell;
Bresnan;
Broad.

And still in the 'B' theme, our next two games are against Birmingham and Barca!

Okay, I think it's quite obvious I've got lots of time on my hands, so I'm off to do something productive! :)

Thursday and Friday.

It's already early morning Saturday morning, and I was going to write this post on... Thursday! But I was really tired when I got back home so I decided to sleep instead! We all need our beauty sleep, you know!

But anyways, Thursday felt like a very looong day. As of Wednesday afternoon, I didn't have any proper plans, but as it turns out with my friends, they like to spring things up on me at the last minute- probably because they know I haven't got much doing, so I'm likely to be available! I had to meet Oyinda in London this time around. It was urgent (ish) stuff, anyways, so I couldn't avoid it, really.

Was planning on getting my hair done (steamed, trimmed and all that) on Friday in Mill Hill, but since I had to be in London on Thursday, it only made sense to only make one trip to London, so I had to try and fit both 'meetings' into Friday. After making a number of phone-calls, the day was finally sorted- meet Oyinda at Kings Cross for about 11am to get things sorted, then be at Mill Hill for about 2-3pm.

It's so hard getting up in the morning. I'm sooo not a morning person! But anyways, I only had to leave home at 10am so it wasn't too bad. I did get to Kings Cross at about 10.40am. She'd banged on about how I had to get there before 11am, and typical, eh? She was late! She meant 11:00 BMT,but I guess I should have realised that the BMT she meant was 'Black Man's Time'. Haha! She did say, after I was at King's Cross though, that she'd forgotten something at home and had to go back. She only lives at Holloway Road, but she was still about 20minutes late! I really ought not to moan much, though- who knows, I might be the late one, next time!

Anyways, where were we off to again? We had to go all the way to Excel. Why? We had to go to the tailors'. Why? That's the long bit! Basically, it's Oyinda's cousin's wedding next Saturday and the way it works traditionally, is that for the reception, the bride's family (and/or the groom's family, not too sure, really) usually get to wear something called aso ebi; my rough translation- family cloth (that's a rubbish translation, but it's one of those ones that a literal translation doesn't really do justice for!). What it is really, is that they choose a particular fabric for family and friends to wear, if interested. Thankfully, Urban Dictionary do have a better explanation!
Immediate family almost always have to wear the fabric, but it's generally optional, and you tend to buy from the family. I don't know, but I think the whole purpose anyways, is to sort of contribute towards the wedding. That might not be the reason, but it sounds like a good enough reason! And it usually ends up looking nice, especially in pictures, with a bunch of people wearing the same fabric. It's up to you to get it sewn at a tailor's, and you've got carte blanche as to the style or design!
So yeah, Oyinda and I (and another of our mates) bought the aso ebi (it only cost £30), so we just had to find a tailor. It's not really stuff I can be bothered much with, so I just left Oyinda in charge. I'm not related to the people getting married, so I'm sure it wouldn't matter to anyone whatever I was wearing!

Either ways, she found a tailor at Excel, so we just had to find our way there, choose what design we wanted sown for us. I'm like the least fashion-minded of us friends, so I hadn't given much thought to it! No surprise Oyinda had, though, as she came armed with her laptop, full of pictures of different styles to choose from. I ended up choosing something really simple from a magazine, as I'm not that fussy! And I got a picture, too!

First things first, though- I totally am not brave enough to wear a dress with that low a neckline, and I think those black pouch-thingies on the hip are a bit dodgy, so I'm not having those- the neckline'll be a bit higher, if not I'd feel self-conscious for the whole time! Also, the black transparent band on her waist will so not be transparent for me, and will be a different colour which matches the aso ebi. Simple does it, I'd say, especially as it ain't my wedding, or anything. I can't remember, but I think the outfit's brown and orange, but in all honesty, I've forgotten what it looks like! Oyinda went for something slightly more complicated, but I guess she's allowed to! And it's only costing me £35, which is really decent. We've got to go back (unfortunately!) on Thursday for the fitting- got to hope it turns out fine, seeing as the wedding'll only be 2 days away!
Anyways, we were out of the tailor's at about 1pm. Job done. Oyinda was off to her Aunt's for some more wedding preparation!

Actually, I do remember when her cousin got proposed to! I can't remember why, but I was staying over at Oyinda's that day- I think it was around October/ November. Oyinda's friends with her cousin's boyfriend, so he told her earlier he was going to propose to her cousin on her birthday, so she had to pretend not to know anything about it! I think he took her to dinner, under the guise that it was just the usual birthday dinner, then he proposed. She said yes- obviously! The only reason why I remember, is the terrible acting skills of my friend! Her cousin called her later that day to tell her she was getting married and to give her the low-down, but she had to pretend as if she knew nothing about it. Gosh, she's so terrible! Haha! I can't believe she actually screamed when her cousin mentioned the proposal- that's was like the fakest scream ever! Ok, I'm probably exaggerating, but it was hilarious!

Anyways, with the tailor done, I had to get myself down (up?) to Mill Hill to get my hair sorted. Good timing, really, as I got there at about 2.30pm. Not bad! Of late, I've been feeling happy with myself that my hair's relatively long, but it did need a proper trimming. I think getting your hair trimmed is one of the most painful things ever, especially as you can always see how much the hairdresser's cutting off! A necessary evil- that's what I call it! My hair definitely looks much better now, even though it's way shorter :(
I'll console myself in the fact that it looks nicer than it was before! The disadvantage of salons is that you end up staying there for much longer than necessary, really. Didn't leave until about 6pm! Crazy, I know! At least my cousin picked me up from the station, so it wasn't that much of a pain getting home.

I got home in time to catch the second-half of the Fulham-Juve match in the Europa League. What a corker! Totally chuffed to bits for Fulham and Roy Hodgson. Pretty unbelievable that they were able to turn what was at one point, a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4. Against the Old Lady, of all people! I guess the fact that they were down to 10 men for most of the match helped, but still, that was an amazing performance by Fulham! We might be London rivals, but it was great how most Arsenal fans, at least the ones on twitter, were right behind them. I'm sure if it were Chelsea though, we'd all have been supporting Juve! Massive massive well-done to Fulham. At least one West London team was able to do the business against an Italian team! ;) There were loads of good games in the Europa League on Thursday, actually. Loads of goals. The Liverpool v Lille was on next- glad I was watching it in my room, as I promptly fell asleep sometime during the second-half. I somehow ended up dreaming that Liverpool won 5-0 or 5-1, with Torres scoring a hat-trick! That's what I get for falling asleep while watching/listening to football. For the record, that game ended 3-0 (2 goals to Torres) and I'm sure it was 3 nil anyways, by the time I fell asleep!

So that was Thursday. Felt like an eventful day, but it wasn't really. I'm just a lazy so-and-so! :)

The only memorable thing about Friday was the Champions League draw! That was officially meant to start at 11am, but the draw itself didn't start until 11.15am. I had to book myself a Doctor's Appointment that morning, but I had a momentary brain-freeze and chose a 10:40am appointment, after being offered one at 9:50am! It was only after getting off the phone that I remembered my blunder! Duh!
 I only live about 10-15 minutes away from the hospital, so I was going to rush home quickly. But how totally predictable that I didn't get to see the Doctor until about 11am! That didn't last longer than 5-8 minutes, but it meant I had to follow the draw on the BBC website on my phone, as I was walking home. I was nervous as hell! So the first couple of draws saw Man. United paired with Bayern Munich and Bordeaux v Lyon! That could only mean that we either had to Inter, Barcelona or CSKA Moscow. But as luck would have it, we were paired with Barcelona! I literally went weak at the knee! I so didn't want Barcelona- not because I think we can't beat them or anything, but because I would have preferred that to be the final! But not only that, if (read when) we beat Barcelona, we probably have to then face Inter or CSKA in the semis, then probably United in the final!
Another reason for me being gutted about the draw, is because I wanted to go for the home leg. But the chances of Red members getting tickets are slim to none! It's times like this I hate all you lot with season tickets! Haha, just joking! But I realy wish I was going to the game. It's going to be epic! The bookies are all predicting a Rooney v Messi final- as if they're guaranteed to be there, already! As far as I'm concerned, our tie could go either way, but I'm sure if the players are well up for it, there's no reason why we can't take the holders on and beat them! Cannot wait! I hope we crash the party! But I guess I'll have to do with watching on TV. Better than nothing, though!

Anyways, no need to worry about Barcelona for now- we've only got the small matter of a London derby against West Ham on Saturday, in the league. Not only that, we also get the chance to go top if we win, since Chelsea and United don't play until Sunday! I'm sure we can do it- as long as we don't repeat what happened at Upton Park where we let a 2-goal lead slip inside the last 15 minutes and ended up drawing the game!
No slip-ups, please! Come on Arsenal! :)

No 3!

3 blog-posts in one day? I'm on fire! And I still have a half-finished one!
This isn't a typical post anyways, as I only felt like posting a couple a videos:

1) Realised I love this song, even though every time I hear it, I always have to ask my cousin for the title and the name of the artist!I do know, now! ;)



2) And as I can't do without mentioning football, have a look at this promotional video about Germany's World cup kit. I'm a bit late with it, but well, it's still a weird one. It's in German, but it doesn't matter much!


Goodnight! :)

Strange one...

I do LOVE writing, like I say almost every time :) but I'm a bit too shy to tell people about it. Ofcourse, my blog's online & is on my twitter page, so all that sounds a bit ridiculous! And I have mentioned it to a few people on twitter, but I can count the number of people on one hand, and I do remember when and how! But then again, I haven't mentioned it any of my close friends, family, or even the people I live with! Apart from this blog, I also write for an Arsenal one, but I always try to avoid writing on either of them, when people are around me. I wonder why!

Maybe it's because I don't do criticism well, and the less people who know about it, the less likely I am to get an earful about what I'm doing wrong! I know you can get one of those twitter-feed things, whereby when you post a new blog it gets tweeted, but I don't want to. Ofcourse it's nice when people read your blog, but I'd kind of feel bad, as if I was forcing people to read it, if that makes sense.
But it's a weird one for me though, as I do like it when people tweet their blog posts, as it reminds me to read them, which I'm always very glad to do! I'm a words-junkie, remember?
Words-junkie! I'm sure I just made that up! :)

Or maybe it's because I only write as a hobby, and I'm worried I'll be told to get a life if I mentioned that I spend so much time blogging?

Or maybe the reason why I'm too shy to publicise it much, is because I just love the excitement of doing something in secret, if an online blog counts as a secret?!

Ooh, or maybe becuase I get the chance to slag off these people, since they haven't got a clue about the blog! Who knows, maybe I'll end up doing so one, of these days! ;) Nah, I probably won't... Damn! :)

Either way, I'm having so much fun blogging- does it really matter if next to no-one reads it?
(Hi, if you are reading by the way!) :)

Nice and easy, today...

Got this email today, in my spam folder, thank God! Lovely way to start the day, right?

---

Hello,
My name is Mr.John Jasper from South Africa our client died Three year sago
leaving behind Capital amount (US$14.6M) in our bank here where i
work ,I am his account manager ,till date nobody has come forward or put
application for the claim. To maintain the level of security required I have
intentionally left out the final details.

I want you to come forward since I can provide you with the details needed for
you to claim the Funds so that I can be gratify by you,I that will do all the
crucial part in the bank to have the claim release to you promptly. To affirm
your willingness and cooperation please do so by replying me at my private email
stating your mind,and His Name is Dr. George Brumley.

Thank you,

Mr John Jasper

I obviously know it's from one of those scammers, but well, it makes a lovely change that the silly man isn't claiming to be a Nigerian business-man!
But really though, do any people still fall for these scams, in this day and age? I'd like to one day pretend to be interested and reply to one of these emails just for laughs, but well, today isn't one of them and besides, I wouldn't want these monkeys having my email address, would I?


Anyways, in news more important to me, it's Theo's birthday today! Happy birthday, little speedster! He's 21, can you believe it? Finally, I'll say! I sometimes feel like I'm an old-head, but realising that I'm the same age as Theo (although a number of months older) and I'm always tempted to call him 'little Theo' is a lovely reminder that I'm not, if that makes any sense! :) He's got such a lovely girlfriend too, not your typical WAG. But then again, do any of our players have typical WAGs? Just thinking of it, I don't really know about most of the players', but maybe that proves my point, as they're hardly in the news all the time! Oh, here's a picture of Theo's cake from his 21st party over the weekend, that a got off the Daily Mail website. Make of it what you will:

On another note, I've got to say how seriously gutted I am for Becks. Such a true professional, and despite what people say, I think he would have been a great addition to the England squad, and he wanted desperately to play at the World Cup, too. He might not have pace like Theo but his range of passing is second to none, and I'm sure if Theo's deliveries become anywhere near as good as Becks, he'll be an even better player than he is at the moment. It'll be a shame if his career ended this way, so I hope he's back soon. But on the plus note, it makes it even more likely Theo'll be at the World Cup, especially with Aaron Lennon still out injured.

I was only going to write a short post this morning but the more I write, the more stuff I think to add, so I'll just stop now before this get wayyy too long!

Have a nice day! :)