I�ve spent almost the last week in isolation, speaking only to friends over the phone, or the occasional passer-by member of my family. Mostly, my ears have been listening to the nonsensical conversations of my Sim family, who have been entertaining me. My family consist of Barbie, Action Man, Ken and Sindy. Ken and Sindy after some passion (despite Ken getting randy some other females, and Sindy getting flirty with Bob Newbie) recently decided to have a baby, Skipper, who will grow into a child if they look after her properly for three days, so they have been skiving work so as not to miss her feeding times. Action Man meanwhile has proposed marriage on at least four occasions to a Katrina House lookalike, who said no, once because she complained they don�t talk enough, and three times because she was hungry. Action Man told her to leave, and returned to his passion for painting. Barbie meanwhile is working as a psychic for the police. If you think that is sad, then spare a thought for one poor nameless soul who named his Sim family after members of Belle And Sebastian, and made Chris and Isobel get it on. Talking of Belle and Sebastian, last week I chanced the opportunity to watch the new DVD with my boyfriend. If the recent album was disappointing (and it was, never mind what you think) then this was a welcome treat. It was as much a pleasure as the first time I really appreciated Tigermilk. The videos are fantastic � my favourites being I Could Be Dreaming, Lazy Line Painter Jane, and the Wrong Girl. The great thing about those videos was that it was less of an accessory to the music, like so many music videos tend to be. I giggled thoroughly when Stuart did his angry face, or when Stuart and Chris had a three-legged chase of Lazy Line Painter Jane, or when the glove puppet fox in the super hero costume shakes his wee foxy head when posed with the line �Do you wanna do it now?� or when baby Stevie emerged from the hospital. My only question is, how on earth can you have bonus bits on a DVD? That would suggest that you could buy it without the bonus bits, for a smaller cost. But that�s just a thought. Still, the DVD was wonderful; it was like looking through an old photo album or scrapbook of B&S best moments. It�s rather sad that October is almost over now, although I�ve really enjoyed this autumn so far. Hopefully it will lead to a winter fit for Christmas card pictures of frosty and snowy scenes in wintry sunshine. I turned 25 recently*, and it started to make me think. What was I thinking about? Oh, so many things. I was thinking about what I have achieved, and what I had wanted to achieve by the time I was 25. Most people put their fulfilment on 30, but 30 always seemed too far away. Now it is closer, and I realise it�s ten years since I was a teenager, turning into an indie kid of some description. I don�t feel as differently as I thought I would, and things haven�t progressed quite as I thought they might. I had a career of glamour and luxury laid ahead for me in my head at 15, and I�ve yet to find anything remotely alluring about standing in photocopier rooms running off copies of papers. I find some solace though in knowing that not everyone gets it done by 25, (their ambitions, not photocopying) and that actually, 25 isn�t as old as it could be. In fact, 40 doesn�t seem as old as it used to anymore. Am I making excuses, or have I become more realistic? Will I achieve my aims in life, or am I destined to dream about them, and when I actually try to achieve these things will I realise that I�m not really cut out for them after all? How disappointing that would be. Am I good enough to get what I want, let alone motivated? No doubt this email may seem na�ve to those of you older than I; it may also seem insulting. It may also remind you of questions you had, and you�ll be able to wistfully look back and remember with a little bit of wisdom. Why 25? Well, I think it is because there are so many competitions and applications and opportunities that say they are for young people, with an age cut off at 25. It feels somewhat cruel in a way, that I am no longer considered a young person. It�s like being a small fish in a big pond all over again - I�m now in a different demographic. Having said that, there are few competitions, applications and opportunities I wanted that were aimed specifically at this young age group, so it is no great loss. Yours Elderberry *my birthday in October is one of the reasons I enjoy October, the other being the pleasant memories of mid term breaks at school, and the start of a new term with new pencils and books and jotters which always appealed to the stationery freak in me. ===== http://groups.yahoo.com/group/corduroysmoke/ starting playground gossip and passing notes __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney Spears http://launch.yahoo.com/promos/britneyspears/ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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