That Monday feeling...

[annwfyn]

Too soon to be out of me bed,
Too soon to be back to this bus queue caper,
Fumbling for change for me picture paper,
On a Monday morning.

I appear to be in a mopey mood this morning. I don't entirely know why, but I woke up this morning with a head full of muddy emotions and an ache in my neck that won't quite go. Lots of little things seem to be nagging and nibbling at my brain - little things which shouldn't mean very much, but today they just seem to.

Bah. And humbug.

I shan't dwell too long on the things I'm moping about* but shall instead spread some joy, or at any rate news of something very shiney I found today.

It's called 'unit 142', and it is set in the Hungerford Arcade, on Hungerford High Street. For those who do not know such things, Hungerford is a little town about 10/15 minutes drive away from Lambourn, where I was brought up, and maybe 40 minutes drive away from Oxford. It's a small town which is mostly known for its antique shops, and for the massacre which took place in 1987 when a man called Michael Ryan picked up a gun and went a huntin', leaving quite a few people dead before killing himself in the local secondary school. In the girl's toilets, inconveniently enough, which I was finally told on the school open day by one of the prefects who was showing the little primary school children around, just as I headed off towards the loo on my own. Apparently those toilets are meant to be haunted as well, which must really such for Mr Ryan. Spending eternity in the company of urinating adolescents really must really suck.

Anyway. Ahem. Hungerford. Place where a massacre happened, and also a place where there are a lot of antique shops and pretty crafty places, and a large place called the Hungerford Arcade which is a series of tiny shop units selling a lot of things which range from 'precious antiques' to 'junk' with a lot of other things in between.

Now, I happened to be in Hungerford today as pierot is working there and it's kind of en route from London to Oxford (or near enough that it was feasible to give him a lift before heading library-wards), and I stopped for lunch and a bit of a potter. I wandered into the Hungerford Arcade and there I found Unit 142. What Unit 142 specialises in are old things. REALLY old things. Such as Egyptian beads from 1000 BC, re-strung into a necklace that can be worn today. Such as a Romano-British ring from the second century AD, also wearable today. Such as a Byzantine silver crucifix from the third century AD. Such as genuine Ushbati figurines from ancient Egypt. All with certificates of authenticity. It's incredible stuff.

I stood there for an age, just staring in rapture. When I'm rich, I'll go back there one day.



*For the sake of not being cryptic, they can be summarised to 'money worries, house worries, game worries, ST'ing worries, entirely irrational conviction that no one likes me worries, weight and self image worries and a deep awareness that I'm letting myself get behind on the work for my thesis. Erm. It's also worth pointing out that all of these in themselves are very little worries that I'm overreacting to for reasons I don't quite understand. But anyway...

Comments

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Oooh. There's a funny antique shop in Fishguard like that. Don't suppose they have a website, do they?

Alternatively, there's a lot of interesting things on eBay that are quite wearable, but you have to be OK with the bad metal detecting karma...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

The dealer has a website, I think, but I didn't note it down - it isn't linked to the arcade, you see, it was just on his business card. I shall try and pick it up next time and post it. His selection was really rather shiney.

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

I had a dream about you, pierot and ksirafai last night. I can't remember many of the details but you were all living in a big warehouse style building with a restaurant in the front and for some reason I was in trouble with pierot who appeared to be a powerful figure in the local underworld. He was very nice and din't have me killed. I have no idea what I had done, but the dream started out as a friendly visit and headed downhill into "please don't have me fed to the fishes, Mr pierot."

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I constantly live in fear of jez feeding me to the fishes. I've noticed that he really doesn't have any dodgy exes hanging around, and I'm convinced it is because he doesn't break up with people so much as bury them.

Don't know what it is about him that gives out that kind of vibe...

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

But Jez and I haven't even dated...

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

There's a shop like that in Manchester - it sold things like Ancient Egyptian beads strung onto necklaces and so on.
As a 19-year old goth I found it the perfect place to buy presents for girls I wanted to score with :D

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Where?!

That's what I did for Mr. Me's birthday. There's a shop on EBay that sells Anglo Saxon beads and another museum hocking Roman rings. Very cool.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Wow! You must have been a very rich student! There was nothing in the shop I was in today which was under £100! ;)

[headinclouds.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. Now I have an overhwleming urge to go shopping in Hungerford.

Guess that's something else to go on the list of things to do when I win the lottery. ;)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Did you never go into Antiques on High in Oxford, then? ;)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

No - I never did in the end. I wound up wandering around intending to one day, but ran into a girl called Cait and wound up eating cake instead, which was probably rather cheaper while being just as fun.

I don't spend nearly enough time in Oxford these days!

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

And does that make Michael Ryan the real world inspirations for Moaning Myrtle?

[wildrogue.livejournal.com]

That sounds very shiney.
Don't worry about the game or STing. You are good, it is good, I thoroughly enjoyed both games. And your NPCs are just brilliant. I'm adopting all of them.

On a complete tangent - usual offer. Should you feel like stopping for a cuppa and/or glass of milk we shall be in. Scott's home all day today and it's always good to see you.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

If I get enough work done! I'm not allowed to go anywhere until Sam Lucy's Early Medieval Burial has been finished and annotated! I might try and see if I can jez to stop in Reading en route back.

Oh - am trying to sort out how to run the downtime scene where you and jez go hunting kinfolk atm as well. The exciting bit is that this is a scene that takes jez out of the world that he actually has any ST type knowledge of, and into True Player territory, so I am interested...

[(Anonymous)]

Ooh, very exciting. I'm really looking forward to it. It feels like my little project and IC proving I can do useful things for the sept and be a proper grown up who doesn't need looking after.
I'm in work until 5 anyway so feel free to stop by any time. Give me ten minutes warning and I'll feed you too.

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

On a complelty unrelated noteI am doing a news letter on London LRPs if you would like ot write 100 words on so about earscratch the defleaing I'll add it.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

What kind of thing? Advertising blurb, or information or what?

I've got something as a base:

The earth is dying. Humanity is poisoning it step by step. The city isn’t a beautiful place; it’s a deadly jungle of toxins, and corruption.

You aren’t human. You aren’t an animal either. You’re something in between, something caught between two worlds.

You know what you are here for. You are Gaia’s Chosen, Gaia’s rage and fury taken form.

You are the warriors of Gaia?

When will you rage?

Zeitgeist Garou – an Old World of Darkness Garou larp, set in a world where the Apolcalypse is yet to happen, Gehenna is still a myth, and the future is full of potential and possibilities.

Garou and kinfolk welcome, with some fera PCs allowed. All players welcome. Game is run on the first Sunday of every month at 1 pm, at the College Arms on Store Street, just off the Tottenham Court Road. ST is annwfyn@hotmail.com.

Zeitgeist Garou is part of the Zeitgeist world, a series of traditional World of Darkness MET games, set in a pre-end of world London. Contact hollowcolours@hotmail.com for details on vampire, and portillis@gmail.com for details on mummy.

*****

If you'd like to use that, that's fantastic. If you'd rather another tone/something else then let me know and I'll get you something asap.

[commlal.livejournal.com]

I hate that feeling, when you think everything isnt going to be quite right :( Sucks mighty big :(