Leaks, love and Halloween

OK, so I thought it was cold in September - scratch that, it's been colder this month. In fact, cold enough for an early snow shower, which thankfully cleared off as quick as it turned up.
Colder still is the trail of looking for a job - still no luck on that front I'm afraid. Also, I mentioned a lot of leaks in the last blog - they're back again. The leak under the sink has started again, which means I might have to get the washer hose replaced, until then there's a towel and a bowl to collect the leakage. As well as that, a crack's appeared in the ceiling of our front room, the part with the bathroom above it, because of shower water pouring behind the bath seal - the crack's been getting bigger for some time now, but the last straw was when, guess what, it started to leak water into the front room. That's since been remedied by sticking a towel on the seal to stop the water going down, but it still needs fixing properly, and I can bet my last tenner that the council won't fix it.
Anyhow, that's enough about that...in my last blog, I also mentioned that there was an announcement I wanted to make...

Well, here it is.

It's something that's been bubbling under for a long time, but I finally got the guts to make it happen. Nicole, my long-time friend from Connecticut and I are now an item, since September 28. It's been a while since I've been in a relationship, and this is without a doubt the first long distance relationship I've been in, but those aside, it's as simple as this: I love Nicole, she loves me, and neither past relationships or how far away we live from each other are going to get in the way.
So yeah, there it is.

Obviously as I type this, it's almost Halloween, the spooky season. To be honest, in recent years I've found that I prefer the spooky season to another certain festive time of year *coughChristmascough*, despite the fact that it too is also heavily commercialised. I guess it's just because it's darker. 
I've only ever dressed up for Halloween once, and that was as Dracula - but this year I'm going to dress up for it again, well, sort of - you may or may not get to see a pic and video of me all zombified.

As always, I'll leave you with some artwork - and here's a sort of creature you'd normally run away from - but not this fella:

  Bartholomew, a not-so-scary bat

PS: As I type this, the tropical storm Sandy is currently causing chaos in the northeastern US - hope everyone I know over there stays safe. 

Wake me up when September ends

And there goes Summer...hello there Autumn, you seem to come by a lot quicker these days.
Aye, the warm weather (what we got of it) has gone, to be replaced by Arctic temperatures, falling leaves, and more rain, which of course means more heating on. That's the way it goes of course.
As I mentioned last month, I've had to start a "Work Programme", which I've been referred to by the jobcentre - basically, a local training place is going to help me look for work, I have to attend a short session with them every fortnight where they go over what I've been doing to look for work, they give me advice and if there's any jobs suitable they'll put me forward for it. Unlike the jobcentre though, they don't pressure you, which is a lot better. And there's no having to sit around in a classroom for 6 hours a day like in the past.
There's been a word that has kept popping up this last month - and that word is leaks. Aye, there was not one, but three different leaks in me and my brother's flat - first, our toilet, it wouldn't stop flushing because the stopcock was busted; second, the washer pipe under the sink which soaked everything that was kept under there; and last, rainwater dripping from a nasty damp patch in our kitchen, and that was thanks to the two days of constant heavy rain in the last week of this month. The first two leaks got sorted out, the third has stopped, but we really need to get that damp patch fixed up.
Only other thing to note is that I've pre-ordered the new Biffy Clyro album - as some of you probably know, I'm a huge Biffy fan, and I'm looking forward to the new album. With the way music is these days it's good to know there is still some music out there still worth listening to.
Actually, I told a lie...there is one other big thing I'd like to tell you - but I'm not going to say anything - yet.

I'll leave you with some artwork, as always:

My two dragon characters, Fyfe & Sparkplug.

Some summer

And, that's summer over for another year - but to be honest, it felt like it barely even started. This summer, to me, felt different than summers past weather-wise, because of all the rain we've had here. Now I'm no stranger to summer rain, but it feels like this year it was worse than usual. That's not to say that there weren't any warm days at all, but they were few and far-between.
Also, the mood felt different, because of me going somewhere on holiday around summertime in the past few years - this was the first summer since 2008 that I didn't go anywhere (a day trip to Tynemouth doesn't count), and I missed doing so. Really hope next summer will be a different story.
On that note, it's about time I spilled some beans - when Nicole was over here with me back in May, she told me that there was an opportunity for a temp job in her neck of the woods, a chance for me to live and work in the US for a few months. I was all for it until I read about getting a visa in order to go do that - far too much hassle, far too much expense. And would they really give me a visa once they saw that I was unemployed? It just wouldn't be worth it sadly.
I mentioned previously about possibly ending up on a brain-dead training programme, courtesy of the jobcentre - I have been referred to what's called the "Work Programme", which means a sort of agency called Avanta are going to work with me for the next 2 years to try and "help" me get a job. By "help", I mean they're probably just gonna shove me on every training course and work placement under the sun for the next 2 years just to keep me out the road and make the jobcentre's unemployment figures look better than what they actually are. Same old story, just repackaged.
On a better note, this month I also took the plunge and bought a new laptop - it was a last minute thing, the laptop in question is a Lenovo IBM ThinkPad, with Windows XP and dual core, selling for only £145. Bargain, and it was a much-needed replacement for my Sony Vaio, which has started to slow down and switch itself off when overheated. So far the new laptop is blowing the old one out of the water performance-wise.

Last but not least, here's some artwork, and instead of a clichéd beach scene, here's some heavy metal spiders:

"Araknid: Heavy Metal Spiders" - what you get when you mix two things I like, music and cartoon characters.

See you in September.

Up in the air

End of July, halfway through the summer now - although it hasn't really been much of a summer weatherwise, the weather for the best part of this month has been canny horrendous to say the least, with days of rain and temperatures closer to Autumn and Winter than Summer - however there have been one or two good days as well.
The weather fits this month pretty well actually, it's been a mixed bag. Had a blip moment at the start of the month, thanks to me thinking too much as usual, about the future, about not having a job, etc - this is something that happens too frequently with me. Once I get into a funk, I find it hard to get out of it.
Speaking of jobs, I landed a job interview, the first one in over year! However, it didn't go very well, especially when I learnt that the job I was being interviewed for would be no higher than 15 hours, nowhere near enough for me to get by on. They didn't call me back, so that was the end of that. That interview also postponed my inevitable shove onto that compulsory jobcentre course - that'll be happening next month, and I'm dreading it.
Also, as you'll probably know already with every form of media under the sun shoving it in our faces every waking hour, this summer is the Olympics, and this year it's in London, in my country. You'd think I'd be excited by that, but the truth is I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I like watching the actual sporting events, but I just can't stand all the pomp and circumstance of the occasion, including the fake "world comes together" mantra, as well as the masses of corporate sponsors promoting themselves to high heaven. It's supposed to be about the sport and the taking part, not the profit - but then again, that seems to be the way with everything, really.
That aside, there was a highlight to this month - on the 21st, me and my brother took a trip to the Sunderland Airshow for the first time in 6 years, it was the third time for both of us. The weather was brilliant that day too, which meant we got the full airshow experience. Each of the aircraft displays were terrific, though for me the highlights were the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber); the Breitling Wingwalkers (two biplanes with a lass strapped on top of each one's wing, performing acrobats while in the air); two Tornado fighter jets, complete with pyrotechnics on the ground; the RAF Falcons parachute team and of course, the Red Arrows. Great day all around.

The Red Arrows in action at the 2012 Sunderland Airshow.

As I said above, I can't say I'm feeling too good about August - but as always, we'll just have to see how it goes. I'm hoping for better weather, anyway. As always, I'll leave you with some artwork.

The latest addition to my ever-growing bunch of cartoon characters - Bartholomew the bat.

Tunage

Thought it was about time I shared some of my own music here, that I've made using the game Music 2000:


A Town Without Shame


Stony Creek


My December (Linkin Park cover)


Left To Chance


Liar


747


Last Call


Please Wait...Loading


Seattle

Flaming June

I can safely say that after the high of last month, this June was definitely a "comedown month" as far as things go for me, for a few reasons.
First off, the start of this month saw me saying goodbye to Nicole after her fortnight here, and it goes without saying it took some time to get used to her not being around. Those two weeks have so far been the highest point of this year, and I don't want to forget the good times we had during those weeks.
Second, I've been feeling uncertain this past month - all brought on by seeing articles in the news that just fill me with rage and worry, mostly those to do with politicians living in their fantasy worlds as they do, and taking every penny from us ordinary folk as they possibly can. Also, I was told by the jobcentre that I will have to start a mandatory "work programme" soon - and from past experience, it'll be another brain-dead "training" course like just about every other one they've forced me onto.
I don't want to end up on one of those - but I've started to question whether having a job is even worth it, considering the fact a lot of people are actually worse off in a job than on benefits because of being taxed to death. Of course I'm still searching for jobs, don't get me wrong - but it's stuff I don't want to think about or deal with, and I just find myself wondering "Is this it? Is this the rest of my life?", and wishing for simpler times - I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that, either.
And last but not least, which hasn't helped either, is the Great British Weather. Aside from one or two days, all it's done since Nicole left is pour down, which always does wonders for the mood. Had a side order of thunder and lightning as well.


Sorry this is such a downer blog, but I just can't find anything positive about this past month  and I doubt July's gonna be any better.


I'll leave you with some artwork:

"Grey Skies"

Mayday parade

Five months down, seven to go - and this one's been quite special, for two reasons, which I'll go into in a little bit.
First though, the bad stuff: if I can't find a job by the end of June, the Jobcentre will be forcing me onto one of their "work programmes", which I've been on in the past, and most of them have been pretty soul-destroying experiences, lasting about three months at a time - however this next one could last for two whole years. I can't stomach the idea of having to sit in a classroom with a bunch of people I don't know, being told stuff I already know by some snotty jobsearch tutor who will gladly remind me how much of a waste of space I am to society. I've been there already, too many times.


Rant over - now for the good stuff.


On the 23rd, it was a year since I made my third trip to the US, to Connecticut, where I met my long-time online friend Nicole (thesundoesrise on DA) face-to-face for the first time - what followed were four of the best weeks of my life. I met her family and friends, met up with two DA buddies (Shane Jensen and Leo, aka Ardwick), explored in and around Nicole's hometown of Branford, and also visited Atlantic City, Rhode Island, Boston, stayed with Shane's family for a few days on Long Island, visited lots of beaches, a zoo, an aquarium, and had more than one party plus karaoke in between. Too add to that, my brother Chris and his girlfriend also flew over for 2 weeks, and together we all set foot in New York City. I honestly haven't stopped thinking about that awesome time since I flew back, and I hope to get back there again.


That brings me onto the second special occasion of this month: in a complete switcheroo of last year's trip, Nicole jetted all the way here to the north-east of England to visit me and my brother, for two weeks, and as I write she is still with us, however in three days she'll be leaving, something neither of us are looking forward to. Her time here has been awesome - I introduced her to my family, took her for walks around my hometown and in the Weardale countryside, and we also visited Durham, Newcastle, the Metro Centre in Gateshead, Bishop Auckland, Darlington and the beach and aquarium in Tynemouth. I've really enjoyed having Nicole here, and it goes without saying that I'll miss her very much when she leaves - but I'm not thinking about that right now!

Me and Nicky in Connecticut, USA, May 2011

Me and Nicky in Bishop Auckland, UK, May 2012

Last but not least, as always, a little bit of artwork for you - a trade picture that I did with my good Scottish buddy Andy (aka Granitoons on DA):

"Poker Birds" (Pete/Squawks/artwork © me, Stan/Lonnie © granitoons.deviantart.com)

Speaking of DA, I am no longer known as "appleyard86" on there - DA recently gave deviants the option to change their usernames, so I'm now known on there as "BluebottleFlyer", to bring it in line with my usernames on other accounts. Plus, I never liked the "appleyard86" username anyway.

That's all for May - hopefully June will be fine, and not flaming.