Janimal Russia Updates:

June 10th

"I'm wearing a T shirt saying "Vodka Connecting People# in the Vodaphone font. Bought it for Dashbags - i hope a wash will make it still ok - I sat through my first footie match 2night. England v Paraguay Not a great match but no longer a football virgin.

After the talent show with all the designer parents (one kid wore Dolce & Gabana wellies on the trip to the cattle farm!) there were 3 taxis laid on 4 the English staff to go to the Sports Bar
in town to watch the first english match of the world cup Seemed churlish to refuse and I knew the bar had a good screen and alco beer! Also nought else to do so I went.

I left just after match over, mooning, shouting, spilt beer but just before broken glass, threatening goons and tears!!!

Escaped to the submarine internet caff again with the young lads game playing. On the way I passed women collecting water from the stand pipe to take back to little wooden houses nestling between grotty blocks of flats."

June 10th

"Narrafaminsk - that's the name of the town - my spelling - where I now hang out!

We had the 10 & 11 year olds rocking it to Back in the USSR - very successful- took lots of work to get them singing along with the Beatles. And I got them to write a newspaper - beats actually teaching them! Gotta scrape the barrel for these last 3 days - I haven't played consequences yet but that won't last long!"

The weather in London has gone from blistering heat to torrents of rain - outside my work window the world looks grey and very wet indeed. Thunder and lightening directly overhead, cars on the road surfing through huge puddles (lakes?), my windows open open to the fullest point breathing in the refreshing, clean air. I love a good downpour - it cleans everything away and prepares for the next epoch (my hands are on the keyboard trying to stop gathering up two of everything on the desk...)

The lads in the downstairs office are actually flooding...bail out, bail out!

Nicky Wire's Secret Society - I don't think that there is a measurement for just how excited I am about this...a non-album download track too. Oh, The Wire, you are spoiling us!

Disclaimer: these emails are a true and accurate record of my mothers time in Russian. Mum, you can't sue me for putting these on my site (and anyway, Jess made me!)

Jan is currently in Russia teaching for 3 weeks. Her emails have been increasing odd...

May 28th

"kids cool, I'm staying in a sanitorium - a nurse binds my foot at 9am and 9pm everyday
Now in interent cafe in shopping centre under Kremlin - we just went on Moscow metro getting off to see the gorgeous stations - 4got camera!!!"

June 3rd

"Back in my inter caff - thought to email e to get me a dental appt! On return.

Not much luck on amber so far - no green to be seen all lush trad big lumps of the well...amber stuff.

This holiday job is quite a strain I must say - a very different culture all those years of communism have left their mark, big time For eg we're expected to sit at separate tables with the children at meals - one break they didn't come in so we were sitting together and having a cuppa & chat - the English teachers - and the woman running it (younger than you!) comes over and tells us we must sit with the children - even of they're not there it seems!!!!

Dotty!"

June 7th

"Hi kids hows tricks?

I'm nibbled by mozzies, patrolled by Russian teachers and mobbed by spoilt Russian brats. Still, it's nearly time to come home! And this week is moving faster because my foot is better and I can go out! Bus and a walk down a dirt track and hurrah internet - here I am with all the local yoofs playing games! in a place3 done to look like a submarine!!!

Weird and wonderful - off to a sports bar after to drink and watch tennis - I found non alco Becks in Moscow - don't believe I'll be so lucky here in hicksville."

June 7th

"thought i send you some russian lettering*
??????? ??????? ??????????
????????? ??????????????? ????????????????????? ?
???????890?0??????????????????

?????????????????
????? ????? ????? ???????

Do you agree?
I thought you would.

love
mum
xxx"

Only a week to go and she returns to the UK...she went away crazy, will she return even crazier?!?

*which of course, doesn't show correctly on the old interweb...but I did babelfish it and it isn't in Russian - I should decode it and find out the KGB secrets that she's trying to pass into this country...nah, can't be arsed!

Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy

Things I steal from SargentPepper:

Your Personality Is Like Acid

A bit wacky, you're very difficult to predict. One moment you're in your own little happy universe... And the next, you're on a bad trip to your own personal hell!

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

So, first day back after a [shit] week off and back to a load of fucking shit. I wish I could curl up into a ball and fucking die....I wonder if they are the sucidial thoughts that the website research has warned me about...

Ok, so no posts for a while. I've been on leave from work and removed myself from internet and mobile phone usage. I'm am currently in prozac withdrawal as I went to my doctor as I felt that I was still getting side effects from the prozac, he however thought that I needed a higher dose. Unfortunately he gave me the drug that I'd had a previous horrible reaction to...I didn't notice until a few days later when I was acting most peculiar. I went to the doctor and gave him a piece of my mind, he took me off the drugs and told me in actual fact the side effects that I thought I was having still were actually a low level allergic reation...the joy. During the past week I have been suffering from a number of the symptoms below. They only last for 4-6 weeks though...I really can't take much more of this...

Withdrawal Symptoms from Prozac:
Anxiety
Dizziness
Fatigue
Restlessness
Tremors
Visual hallucinations
Diarrhea
Blurred vision
Headache
Insomnia
Nausea
Vomiting
Muscle and joint pain
Jolting electric "zaps"
Tingling sensations
Vertigo
Anorexia
Agitation
Gait disturbances
Sweating
Fever
Abdominal discomfort
Flu symptoms and general malaise
Irritability
Aggression
Lethargy
Weakness
Myalgia
Chills and hot flashes
Crying spells
Suicidal thoughts
Sleep disturbance and insomnia
Nightmares
Vivid dreams
Confusion
Memory and concentration difficulties

Our new rattie recruit is doing very well, today I have given her a black star for this effort (the emails started of discussing what to get Carla for her birthday pressie!)

"AHHHHHHHH...MOOOOOO...WAAHHHHAHAHAHAHAH

LOOK AT THE VIRILENT AND DEBAUCHED EMAIL SOCIETY I HAVE CREATED!!! ALL THINGS FOUL AND BASE FLOCK THROUGH THE WIRE, AHAHAHAHAHA

HELEN IS ROPEY TART MOOOHAHA

JESS'S GRAMMAR IS VERBATIM

BOO IS THE ALMIGHTY BEELZEBUB TO WHOM I PLEDGE MY SATANIC/SATIRICAL OFFERINGS

AND LORNY...WELL SHE HIDES HER HORNS VERY WELL BENEATH HER BARNET

MOO HAHA EVIL PREVAILS"

© our very own raticus juniorus, Leo

So I went to the doctors on Friday and told him that I felt that I was still getting side effects (agitation, dry mouth, sleeplessness, headaches, dizziness, sweating, etc) from the fluoxetine. He told me it was actually because I needed a higher dose...I thought, what the fuck he might be right, I'll try anything to stop feeling this way. Unfortunately he hadn't read my notes and gave me 30mgs of paroxetine instead. It is a similar drug but I had a huge reaction against this a few months ago when I only took 3 x 20mgs (which I liken to coming up on an ecstasy tablet for ooohhhh 24hrs and then a major withdrawal crash for the next two days when I wasn't taking it). However, I didn't notice his mistake until it was pointed out to me by boyf this morning. That explains the last couple of days severe manicness, depression, dry mouth, vomiting, dizziness, agitation, headache, muscle contractions and excess sweating, etc!

Went to the doctor in a rage this morning only to be kept waiting for 1hr 30mins all the while the agitation increasing! He did admit his mistake and now suggests that I fact I was right and the side effects were happening while I was taking fluoxetine (on a smaller scale than the last few days!). So no more tablets for me and fingers crossed the withdrawal won't be as bad as last time. Additionally I have a big old sign on my medical record saying "Severe allergic reaction to fluoxetine, paroxetine and all other medicines in this family".

and oh, by the way James Dean Bradfield fucking rocked last night at the Barfly! Even cram packed into a room the size of a shoe box James Dean Bradfield managed pull me out of myself and onto another plane. I'm always amazed when a song is able to tell you about your life, to reflect yourself back at you and make you question all you believe in one minute and then bring you back to earth with a jolt the next. He was a jongleur, a minstrel, a poet-singer, a troubadour for me and me alone...

(or perhaps that was all the drugs?)

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer; it sings because it has a song"
Maya Angelou

Oh and I told the boyf about my suggested names for our children...to say he was unimpressed would be an understatement. However, he did come back to the subject when he was less drunk and suggested that our children could have "weird" middle names and then suggested Enfys (pronounced EN-vess - which is Welsh for rainbow)...strange boy.

Even in today's work quagmire of urgent insurance and VAT returns, I'm still inwardly shouting to myself "I'm seeing James Dean Bradfield tonight!!!" - very over excited methinks.

I have done some more research and the smell is my hair cream - I usually mix it with other products but haven't for a few weeks. I feel much happier now.

Strange things are afoot in the world of Boo:

Firstly, I have developed a strange new smell. Not an awful smell but an odd, sweaty smell. I've changed my deo, my purfume and my shower gel and none of it has made a jot of a difference. Thinking that it might be my hair so I'm going to try and wash it much more, the boyf thinks that I don't wash it enough anyway...so he'll be happy.

Secondly, I'm unable to buy any new trousers. I have tried. I've been in every shop (not that many but I am a big girl most shops don't do my sizes) that I could and nothing fit or looks quite right. I am currently stuck in light blue jeans and my inner goth is screaming to get out of them...

Thirdly, I have developed an strange new habit. I find things cute all the time. I like pictures of cute animals on the internet (a thing which has sickened me previously). I have also bought a new toy kitten which I can't leave alone - *adopting a talking to babies voice* he's got such lovely big green eyes and wonderful soft silky black fur.

Going soft in my old age?

Xfm are having a Manic Monday - playing lots of Manic Street Preachers songs and giving away tix for James Dean Bradfield's solo show (I have already bought tickets!) and I'm loving it. I keep having to turn the stereo up damn loud and resist from shouting along to all the tracks...You Love Us, Found that Soul, Motorcycle Emptiness bring them all on!!!

"Found That Soul"

Show me a wonder
You can't be sure of
I exist in a place
A self-made vacuum
But still stranded here
With all the scum
So clean - so lost - so beautiful

But I found that soul
Yeah I found that home
But I found that soul

Last night I didn't get to sleep until well past 3am - unable to stay still in bed, I went to the front room and listened to the commentary on the Mighty Boosh box set on 3 episodes which resulted in very strange dreams (mainly involving the lovely Howard Moon and some jazz free forming - there's still a wry smile on my lips today…). I woke up at 6am and got into bed with boyf who then woke me up in the morning by putting a note by my head saying that he didn't wake me up because I like to sleep!

Thoughts recently have been about getting a tattoo in memory to my dad - another dream last night involved a beautiful, sparkling, moving tattoo on my right hand shoulder and arm made up of flowers, ants, insects, whirling dervishes, books, album covers and various animals. Not sure if I’m going to be able to recreate that but I’m going to bloody try!

I also dreamt that Jan bought a 15 bedroom house in Hastings for £400K (it needed quite a bit of work but she was really looking forward to it). The dream was so real that I’ve just had to call Iain at the house and double check that it really was a dream!

Although I had very little sleep, I do feel better. I had the chance to think a few things through (I say a few things – those of you who know me or read this blog regularly know that I’ve had more than a few things on my mind!). It would have been my dad’s birthday at the end of May; the beginning of June marks the 6th month point after his death. While he was dying, I promised him a few things and it’s time to start to pull myself together and get started on them.

I had a very enjoyable few days in Brighton at Streets of Brighton which I’ll update on shortly as I saw loads of great shows. Also went to see Les Ballets C de la B last night (a heavily sex and death themed event!). I bought tickets to go and see James Dean Bradfield (him of MSP fame) do a solo show on Wednesday at the Barfly in Camden – very over-excited already.

I’m taking a week off work during the following week – which I’m really looking forward to. I keep thinking that I’d like to book myself in for a massage and a bit of a pamper somewhere and truly relax.

p.s. I'm also so bloody broody that I've named my children - a boy called Kellen (meaning mighty warrior, strong-willed) and a little girl called Shayla (meaning "from the fairy palace"). I'm sure that boyf won't mind...

You Are The High Priestess

You represent mystery - secrets that are yet to be revealed. You find yourself sitting between two worlds: one dark, one light. You tend to hold these two worlds in balance, reconciling the two. Open and welcoming, you invite others to learn your secrets. Your fortune: Something hidden, or latent, in your life is about to come forward. You need to pay more attention to your dreams, thoughts, intuition, and imagination. And if that involves tapping into your dark side, it will all balance out in the end. You have a lot of potential dying to be unleashed, so let those gates open!

What Tarot Card Are You?

Tapping into my dark side?!? I don't need to tap into it anymore than I have already!

This morning Jan-Jan and I went through the grandparents old house (they have moved to a small place) and I am now the proud owner of:

A decanter (spotty and oddly patterned and a little bit chipped)
Salad serving spoons
A moulinex blender
An old camera
A sailor doll that needs some TLC
Some wooden patterned eggs
2 lace hankies
A hair dryer

Not a bad haul for an hour. We're debating about keeping the Heals glass coffee table that I used to lay under when I was a child pulling faces at anyone who cared to put their coffee on it...I'd love to have it but not sure if there's enough room in the flat.

I also removed a dead mouse from the front room (dealing with dead animals is a recurring event in my recent life - Hecate is meddling too much with me methinks!)

Today is busy at work. Getting ready for a work visit to Brighton tomorrow and trying to sort out various other bits and bobs. I've asked by boss for some time off soon as I'm clearly not coping very well with the darkness that surrounds me. I don't think that I had enough time after my dad's death to really deal with the impact that it would make on my life. Boss was very good about it and agreed that I didn't take enough time. Hopefully the week break that I have during the first week of June will get me back onto the straight and narrow (or back onto the crooked and wide maybe!)

Sunday was wonderful (elephant madness, cuddling of lovely babies, pulling faces with cute little girls, nice lunches, catching up with mates, gifting left over sandwiches to the visiting burners at the mile end rat house, getting lovely pressies from Russia, ordering lovely amber from Russia) but now it is Monday and my life has once again fallen into the darkness...this fucking life!