Welcome to my world

Hello there! Glad you could join me. Before we start, I need to explain a few things:

First off, you see those tattoos? That's not really what I have - that one on my right arm is actually a dolphin; the one on my chest isn't really that big, it's a little butterfly; I have one on my waist (you can't see it in that pic) which is a tiger; there's one on my left shoulder too that's of a baby's hand print, which I'll explain another time.

Another thing is the sims vs real life pictures. This house is the closest I could find to represent where I live...

... although it doesn't look quite like that. The city itself doesn't resemble the set-up I have here, but it'll have to do. Anyway though, this is where I live in Headingley, which is an outskirt area of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As you may have gathered, it's an apartment building, sort of. It has two flats on the ground floor as you go in, one on the second floor, and the first floor contains four bedsits and a communal bathroom. This is mine:

Excuse the mess... That said though, apparently even this isn't as bad as some student spaces. Anyway, this is pretty much my home for now. I got left with the smallest on the floor, so I've not much room to spread - especially since people came to replace my nice three-drawer desk with this modern, one-drawer surface I'm using now. There's a problem with sim-desks though - they're back to front. Swap the computer and printer around, and it'd be more accurate.

What's through that door? Here, I'll show you:

Welcome to my little kitchen! *sigh* That sink is actually a bit further down and the cooker's in front of the draining board. Also, that food processor isn't so big - I got a miniature version that suits me fine, seeing as I'm only one person, but the counter it's on isn't that big. In fact it's about half the size. Still, I managed to fit a toaster on there too, and along with the microwave there's a kettle and one of those George Foreman grills - I love those things :D

During the academic year I studied games design, but during the second year when I got back into writing, I decided I could write stories for games as a career. Only trouble is, I found out, you need a degree in English - not my current course - and some published material before they'll even look at you. So, now I'm in the middle of a transfer to an English and History course, which I should be starting this coming September. In the meantime I'm literally between courses - my second year finished over a month ago, so my life for now isn't that exciting. I do get out though..

Church on Sunday night, related "Small Group" as it's known on Wednesdays (I'll explain about that another time).. I did have classical singing lessons on Thursdays, but we've broken up now. No work as yet; I registered with an agency, but realised I had to update some details with them - I'll have to nag them next week.

This is where you'll most often find me these days, complete with lounging suit. I don't just write or Sim on there either, although that's mostly what I do.

You may have noticed this by now, but although most women like to take some care in their appearance, some hating the thought of even going out without putting some make-up on.. I'm not most women. In fact I'll often go to church in my lounging suit.

I do sometimes spend more time on my appearance, especially if going out with friends. In the main though, it doesn't bother me. So long as I don't look like a tramp I'm not fussed, although admittedly it does feel good to dress up now and again.

In the main though.. yeah. Outside's a bit blah right now - inside there's much more going on...

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Hellooo! Welcome to the innermost reaches of my mind... To be more specific; we all have a comfort zone, an ideal lifestyle or whatever - this is mine. What you see now is how I'd look if/when I take more notice of myself. I'd still like to get my nose pierced one of these days, and as for the hair - well, I've tried a few times to get that shade. I will get my hair that colour sooner or later.

This is where I'd like to live - because I'm crap at building in-game, I went looking for something as close to my ideal house as possible, and this is what I found:

My dream involves owning my own house, instead of renting, and being comfortable enough to not have to worry so much about money anymore. Yeah, we probably all wish for something like that, huh? Notice I haven't mentioned being filthy rich, and the modest size of the house? I'm under no illusions about being incredibly wealthy. It'd be nice, sure, especially if I worked for it. On the flip side, there's an even bigger risk of being taken advantage of, for a start. I don't want a huge manor either - I like to spread, but I don't want to rattle in the place.

Something I really miss though, and a big reason why I want my own place, is feline company.

Imagination's a great thing, isn't it? Why those particular breeds? Well, the Turkish Van and Ragdoll have very different personalities, but I love the sound of them both. They're both very friendly, Vans are highly intelligent and have been described as "dogs in cats' clothing" (I love dogs too, but cats are easier to look after), while Ragdolls are incredibly passive and affectionate. I'd love to get one of each for real some day.

In the meantime, allow me to show you round this lovely place - look, separate rooms! There's even a dining room that is solely a dining room...

A proper sitting room...

Now this is my idea of a kitchen!

You can actually move in this one! ... Easily pleased? You've no idea. Before moving up to Leeds, I was living with my Mum and brother. The kitchen there was so small, she moved most of it into the dining room, so she has a sitting room that, I gather, is still cluttered with other pieces of furniture (from when my brother moved back with her), and a kitchen diner. Before you ask, most of this house has been redecorated to my taste, too. I love the older look, it has so much more character. No TV, either in real life or even my ideal home - I watched it so infrequently while at home, and when needing to conserve money I was quick to scrap it altogether - no point in shelling out for a TV license when I barely watch it. If I want to watch something, I'll get/borrow a DVD and watch it on my computer.

Ah, there it is, a decent model this time too. There's two spare rooms in this house, and this one had a desk. Much better to keep it in a different room I think, especially with leaving things like broadband modems on all the time. In fact I moved the cat beds in here so we can keep each other company while I work.

My bedroom? Here it is:

How much of that I'd be able to do for real I don't know, but always better to confine such... unique tastes to one room. Imagine the whole house like this when there's a chance of visitors?

The landscaping of this house is a bonus. I like to walk a lot, and although it's usually for travel, it's so nice to just stroll through a park sometimes, just to relax. Even better when you can do that in your own back garden.

The seasons in real life are weird, at least in England. At the moment it's Summer, but the weather makes it more like Autumn. Here in my mind, the seasons are more how they used to be weather-wise, but the passing of them is even stranger. I do have my favourite, but seasons in my mind represent my mood, or the kind of dreams I get. At the moment it's Spring - I'm not personally in love, but the characters I write about are! It's often Spring just because I'm a big romantic at heart, but a lot of the time it fights for dominance with others - Autumn for now, because I'm also getting a lot of spooky/paranormal type ideas.

As much as I'd like to spend all my time here though, that's out of the question. This is only where I see myself sometime in real life, or at least hope for. This is the nice part of my mind - for one to find out what really makes me tick, one must delve much deeper than this. I'll be honest with you and say a lot of what lurks underneath I've not long found out myself.

So if you're feeling brave, tune in next post to meet more versions of myself - and yes, there's a reason I use the plural...