Hello 
I'm Siobhan Curran/Kisa Naumova, and this is my weblog. I tend to write about stuff like crossdressing, Macs, code, cats, wine and Second Life, but in general it's just an ongoing conversation about all sorts of stuff. If you'd like to know a little bit more about what this all is, I recommend starting on this page which has a little bit of info on who I am, and what I'm trying to do — or you could dive into my five years worth of archives if you like.
Otherwise, feel free to close this box and explore...
Saturday, 29th September, 2007
M6
Meep
I Take It Yous Want To See It?
C'mon then. I'll give you a tour...
First up is the living room. It's pretty spacious:
None of your woodchip on the walls malarky going here, thankyouverymuch. It's all a bit, frankly, nice. The pink ceiling is, perhaps, not to my taste (no, it's not the light reflecting off the curtains), but it's not offensive 
The sofas, well, I'm going to have to take a while to get used to them. I'm yet to be convinced that purple leather is the way forward. I'm also concerned that Biscuit will rip them to shreds — so a couple of large throws from Ikea might find their way towards them soonish.
This is the spare bedroom. It's not massive, but it's not tiny either.
(That is not my bike 
)
Thi kitchen, I'm really rather chuffed with. It's not a million miles away from mine — except with more worktop, more cupboards, a bigger fridge, and a washing machine.
Not a washer-dryer, unfortunately, which is what I'd thought it was. But hey — no more trips to the launderette for me
Oh. And the bin is black instead of white.
This is (natch) the bathroom. It's a bit 'pebblely'.
The main bedromm is pretty decent too:
Slightly smaller than my current one, but not by much. It comes complete with the number-one in-a-flat essential for any self-respecting transvestite though...
A full length all-the-way-to-the-ground mirror 
Also, on the tranny-theme, expect some photographs in the near future with a very red background...
And, saving the best 'til last. Check out my garden.
So yeah, I don't think I've done too badly
Right this second though, I'm in Lancaster. A few people have been asking me how the move is going, so I thought I'd try and explain what I'm planning on doing over the next few weeks.
I'm not going over there until Monday. I'm going to get together a few bits and pieces (kettle, coffee, corkscrew — just the essentials) and take them with me on my way to work. Then I'm going to spend Monday and Tuesday nights there. I'm coming 'home' on Wednesday though, because the cats will need feeding.
I'll probably be doing that for most of the next week or so — two nights there, one night here — and then, when I've got around to getting a van and have hauled my bed over the Pennines, I'll introduce the kittens to the idea.
God knows how they'll take it — I can't see any obvious 'leaving-open-a-bit' window so they can get in and out when I'm not there.
...
Anyways. Asides all of that, I have a question:
I noticed this in the corner of the living room, and I got wondering whether I should switch ISP. The things I need from an internet connection are:
Reliability (ha!)
A static IP address
No restrictions on bandwidth or ports I can play with
Very very very fast
I know that some of yous are with NTL (I logwwatch, remember?), and I was just wondering whether or not I'd get all of those things from them.
gosh, it looks rather nice. good luck with the move
Alison
just
It really does look great — I am slightly envious to be honest. So empty right now — a clean canvas to draw on. Good luck with the next week or so and getting settled in — especially the kitten part of the plan
I was with NTL and apart from twice, I think, in 4 and 1/2 years their email servers jamming up I never ever had a problem with their broadband. I started at 512 and ended up with a pretty fast connection ~10 megs . If there is one thing I regret about moving to the Tranny Capital of the Fens (copywrite Ms EnVérité) is the lose of my NTL because the BT line broadband here is shite.
The bathroom looks rather nice.
That was 1 and 4 As for the rest
2 yep it was pretty static.
3 I didn't have a bandwidth restriction as far as I was aware but I know nothing about the ports.
NTL is part of the Virgin group now which is a shame as I loath the bearded wonder.
eep
Nicely fucked-up the formatting there Jane 
Hmm
1,3 and 4 definately yes. 2 I think yes as well. A small caution is that the call centre is now in India so it's a bit of a lottery when you phone for help(but the call is free). If you don't use direct debit to pay they charge an extra £5 per month which is annoying.
Virgin have just started rounding up phone calls which is another annoying thing but the call packages have come down slightly. If you decide to use their phone as well.
Looks a very nice flat but then my place is a building site so who am I to comment. Remember to keep the kittens inside for a couple of weeks, mine escaped and were recovered by the RSPCA 30 miles on the way back to Suffolk.
Nick in Nottingham
Nice looking place!
We kept the cats in their carriers overnight. And then didn't let them out for at least 2 weeks. One vanished for a bit, and then came back — demanding food. (No surprise there...)
Who's NTL? I use Verizon's DSL: it's horrible. I nearly switched to their fiber service, but you lose your hard-wired phone line. Maybe I still will; the deals with DirecTV seem to get better and better!
Anyway, the new place looks very nice. Congratulations.
Carolyn Ann
A65
Ever had a thought that seems like a good idea, but you just haven't quite worked out the logistics of it?
I worked out the other day, that I've driven the A65 route from Lancaster to Leeds over five hundred times over the past few years. And seeing as that journey has/had become such an intergral part of my life, I felt I should do it justice somehow, in a piece of work.
The cliche (of course) would be to film it one day, and speed it up to follow the movement of a music track. But, I thought, ever bend in that road is scarred in my mind — but always from the perspective of a windscreen.
I need to walk from Lancaster to Leeds. And I need to photograph everything that I remember from driving it along the way.
But I have no idea what that would entail, or how I would do it.
That would make a good little film I reckon, take you a few days, but a walked film could look pretty good. Although you should probably do the "from the windscreen at x miles an hour" as well, as a comparison. The combination could be quite good.
rachel
Oh, and the flat looks totally good. Nice find!
rachel
Not sure whether you'll get a static IP address from Virgin/NTHell, but you can always check out no-ip.com or one of the alternative similar services.
Lisa
"I need to walk from Lancaster to Leeds"
Er... you know that bike in the spare bedroom...?
Walking sounds extreme, but cycling's doable.
you know that bike in the spare bedroom...?
You mean the one that the landlady is popping round today to take away?
Not sure whether you'll get a static IP address from Virgin/NTHell, but you can always check out no-ip.com or one of the alternative similar services
The (limited) research I've been doing this morning, seems to suggest that you don't get a static IP — merely one that only changes if you're disconnected for more than four hours.
I'm not sure if I want to take a gamble like that, to be honest, and the dynamic DNS services online — whilst seeming to be just what I'd need — all are rather complicated to set up, and would require me to start transferring DNS records across from all of the domain names that point the Erin (there are quite a few)
Dunno. I'll have to think about this one. But thanks guys
Also, thanks re: flat I think, yeah, it is really nice, and I have indeed found a little gem there. But (understandably, perhaps) it's going to take me a while to 'fit' into it.
You know all that navel-gazing I did a while back, on the subject of identity and expressions of self within specific environments? I think it applies here too — the 'me' that was walking around the new place felt somehow 'different' to the me that is sitting here in my studio right now.
A difference between the 'raw' and the 'fabricated'. Maybe.
Remember to keep the kittens inside for a couple of weeks, mine escaped and were recovered by the RSPCA 30 miles on the way back to Suffolk.
Oh, I think there's no danger of that. Why would my two have any inclination to go to Suffolk?
...walk from Lancaster to Leeds... I have no idea what that would entail, or how I would do it.
Blisters.
Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat.
Now that looks like a very nice place. You've really landed on your feet there it seems.
Good luck getting the cats settled in though.