Studio Hunts & Borders Bewilderment

Given the large seizure on Saturday I didn't feel too great on Sunday, so it was quite a big effort to be up early and lunched and out to be over the other side of Liverpool for 2pm, to look over a studio. We've a big shoot being organised for the end of April, got the model organised, got half the shoot ideas written out, various props in hand, studio all lined up just waiting for our say so - except said studio rather fuzzily said, studio? daytime? no mate, we've got to keep things clear for the kids now, you can have it after 6pm. What?! Cue minor panic and a lot of emails to hunt down an alternative, one in Liverpool, one in Southport, one over Wigan way, all looked quite promising but we need to check them out...

Which is why we piled into the car, set the GPS and trundled off in bright sunshine and the odd flurry of sleet to check out the new place. Wow. Perfect. Bigger, brighter, better, nicely arranged, much classier, a choice of several studios instead of the one rather dingy room we used in the December shoot, and a range of colourama (seamless background) colour options rather than white or crumpled bit of black cloth dumped on the floor gathering dust and creases till someone needs to use it. The only reason for wanting to use the first place again was various elements outside which meet with our ideas, but checking around the outside of this place, there's plenty of more interesting options, plus the owner filled us with a tad bit more confidence about his ability to remember bookings and make sense via email. Phew!

And I realised that down Speke way is also the large Borders I've been meaning to check out for the last year or so; business done we drove round the corner into what turns out to be a huge retail park with HMV and Currys and WHSmith and M&S and numerous other places as well as the Borders, groovy. If rather overstuffed on a Sunday, took ages to park.

So, Borders. Hmm. These places are supposed to be fab and amazing, and its handy having a Starbucks on the premises (though we didn't fancy coffee, for once), but I wasn't impressed at all. I was surprised not to find a plan or something saying where was what, more a matter of wandering round in vain hunting signs on the walls, but then I realised there was so little stock it wasn't going to be too challenging. Several shelves of sf&f, though about the same as WHSmith in town, and all the standard stuff from the past decade or so and tons of Pratchett and Tolkein and Star Trek tie-ins and very few of the more modern authors, and those they did have, like the Jack Campbell "Lost Fleet" series were overpriced, price in pounds the same as price printed in dollars, which makes a $7.99 paperback cost £8. That's $16, US folk, when I can get the same things on Amazon.co.uk for £4, or a pound or so more elsewhere. Still, I wanted to read the sequel to Dauntless now so I did indulge, but kept my credit card firmly in check otherwise. The language section was a joke, mainly phrase books and a few teach yourself, the various languages mixed up together (French books spread across three sections, interspersed with Polish and Romanian, of all things) and forget any literature actually in the language, how silly of me to think they'd have even Harry Potter. The new age section was mainly angels and tarot, though Forest found an obscure Crowley book which made him happy, and we leafed through some groovy books of photos in the very small art section and left them on the shelf for being overpriced. If all Borders are like that I'm not sure why folks get so excited about them (though Liverpool-makes-things-crap could be a very real factor here), and I still haven't found a bricks and mortar place that can match amazon: the joy of leafing through actual books in the paw rather than clicking online is rather diminished when said books aren't actually in stock *sigh*

I did treat myself to yet another Bible though, finding it easier with the Russian to go from a modern translation rather than my preferred KJV and they had such a pretty NIV with a blue and cream leather cover with a tree design on it.... *blushes* They make them in pink now too, you know. Ahem. That brings the bible shelf total to 9 right now, not including the illustrated highlights in Danish that's tucked in the other room somewhere...

Came home via a rather tortuous route (what was the GPS thinking of?) and promptly collapsed, but I came round later, nice to be out and about, whee!

Inventing Pizza-like Stuffs

Ohhh...

I really really *really* wanted to go out for pizza at the local restaurant tonight but have had 2 seizures and counting thus far, despite getting healing first thing (he said my energy centres were buzzing, and I was so edgy afterwards I had to go for a walk, I guess its lucky I've lots of energy for the twitching!). Its not like me to crave junk food quite that much, and up until about half six I was determined we'd be going out, but I was still having the odd twitch so decided to be sensible, and given the way I'm feeling now after a sensible roast dinner, it was a good call. We can go another night and I will enjoy it all the more, I keep telling myself...

I did solve the cravings problem mind you, cobbled together my own sort-of pizza which was so tasty I'll be having it again for lunch tomorrow. I simply toasted two slices of thick wholemeal bread, and then laid them on a baking sheet, and rubbed a little tomato puree and drizzled olive oil into the top side. Then I sliced up proper soft squishy mozzarella (can't seem to find the hard pizza kind locally, boo) and tore up some wafer thin ham, and laid those on the bread, added torn up fresh basil leaves, a couple of chopped cherry tomatoes, a little dried oregano and another drizzle of olive oil then baked them for 12 minutes in a 200 degree oven (er, 375, I think?). Utterly yummy and if it wasn't quite the gooey yummy pizza I've been longing for, it certainly covered the hot cheese, olive oil, herbs department and shut the little "want pizza" voice up quite firmly. Which is good.

Yum.