Proud as a Peacock

My peacock feather necklace, as worn by me on NYE with my stunning green 80's prom dress and fishnet sleeves :)

Late night laptop

Everyone in the house has succumbed to the snot that Phil had in the run-up to Christmas, and I've spent the day doing nothing more than sneezing, sleeping, coughing and reading. I took the above photo with my new phone, and what you can't see on it is the text of the 4th True Blood novel - I am currently addicted.

100 things in 100 days...

Terrible camera-phone in the dark! In 100 days I will be 30, so I've written a list of 100 things to do before then. You can find it here

Ginger in Disguise!

This is Gnarkil. He belongs to our friends Hannah-May and Mike and we're cat-sitting him over New Year while they are in France. He looks black in normal light but under the flash, we can see that he is clearly a ginger kitteh in disguise!

He is also Celia's boyfriend (whom he is staring at in this photo), even though she doesn't like him very much.

Sofa Snuggling.

This is perhaps cheating because it's rather obviously not taken by me, but rather a photo of me which Phil took while I was asleep on the sofa with Celia. However, as I've spent most of my day feeling really ill and full of cold it really is the most representative of my day!

Also, it's a rare shot of me sans eyebrows and make-up ;)

Christmas Tree Graveyard

It's Boxing Day. One day after Christmas Day.

And yet there were already TWO real trees in the Christmas Tree recycling point which the Brighton and Hove Council set up on the Level every year.

This made me rather sad :(

Goffick Boots of Xmas Joy!

One of the best presents ever from Mum - bought from my little friend Kat, Neptune New Rocks! Coveted by me since I was 17, now I have a pair! GIANT BOOTS = LOVE!

A Festive Message From My Housemate...

We just let Barnaby unwrap one of the presents we bought him early. It's the anti-Christmas present for our resident Scrooge :D

Pub Signs have Feelings Too!

The Earth and Stars Pub has the best sign outside which has different things written on it every so often.

Christmas Cake

Mini Christmas Cupcake: Made according to the Christmas Cake recipe of my childhood, sent to me by my Mum and adapted into mini versions for my friends and family to enjoy over the festive season.

Winter Solstice 2009

My wonderful friend Michelle sent me a parcel of goodies from America a few years ago, and one of the splendid things within this box was the peacock you can see above. Normally, he lives in my room, but he's come downstairs to grace the Yule tree with his presence. The peacock is especially dear to me, and so it becomes the subject of my first photo of this journey through 365 days, from Winter Solstice to Winter Solstice.

MERRY YULE TO YOU ALL!

To Begin At The Beginning...

Hello internet!

This is just a quick explanatory post on the whole existence of this blog. Not quite a FAQ, because frankly, I doubt there'll ever be a need for one of those, but a little bit of text about the whys and wherefores.

Ok, so this is the deal: I'm not a terribly good photographer in the traditional sense of the word. I don't really know how to frame a shot, I don't have a decent camera, I no nothing about lighting or angles or anything like that. I've been photographed myself enough times to have an idea what a good photographer looks like and is capable of producing :)

This is just my way of documenting a year of my life with lasting visual memories. I've written a diary since I was about 7 and been blogging since 2003 but this is my first attempt at capturing the essence of the day, recording the most important or striking thing I came across with pictures rather than words. We'll see how it goes.

2009-2010 is a good choice for me for several reasons, the most significant perhaps being that I'll be turning 30 during this chosen time; Winter Solstice 2009 seems like a good and fairly natural place to start...

See you on the other side...