It's Christmas!!

After a really busy couple of weeks at work it's finally Christmas!! Each year it somehow manages to sneak up on me and I find myself with startlingly few presents purchased and wrapped with only a few days to go. I'm all done at last, on Christmas Eve, and yet again I am vowing to never leave it so late in future (one year I was very organised, it felt much the same only the shopping was less stressful).

The following things make me realise that's it's Christmas:

Eating lots of nuts and chocolate


Seeing The Snowman on TV


Finding myself reading all my cookery books repeatedly planning the Christmas lunch


And having some Christmas ham at my Auntie Shirley's

I'd ticked all these boxes by the 23rd of December this year. I'm off to New York (via Frankfurt) to celebrate New Year and Thomas' birthday. I'm most excited about the prospect of indulging in burgers, cocktails and pastrami on rye NYC style! Waldorf Astoria here we come! Merry Christmas.

The Black Orchid, Muswell Hill

Last Friday night Thomas and I returned to The John Baird in Muswell Hill, a pub which has a thai restaurant attached to it.

For starters we chose Tempura prawns with sweet chilli dip and pork dumplings which were amazing! Both dishes were well executed and flavoursome, the only downer being that we ate them too quickly, next time three between the two of us perhaps?

I had the jungle curry with chicken for main course, something that I was inspired to try out by a former housemate who loved extremely spicy food. I have dramatically increased my tolerance for hot food over the last year or so and now I adore it. I was not disappointed by the Black Orchid’s version of this curry but I do think that having become accustom to Indian curries I found the sauce to be a little on the thin side. Though it certainly warmed me up on one of the coldest nights of the winter so far!

Thomas had the cashew nut curry with which he was particularly impressed and likewise with the chicken wings he had whilst waiting for me to arrive. With 2 sides of rice the total bill was £35. Incredibly good value and well worth the visit further North.

I must say though in Thai restaurants I hate that the waiting staff swoop as soon as you place your knife and fork down, even if your companions are still eating. This never equals good manners in my book but the waitresses here were very efficient and it's all part of the deal. The down side to the evening was that we had to sit in the bar as the restaurant was full and spent the entirety of the meal listening to a group of drunken teachers moaning about their pupils. One of whom, a languages teacher, was particularly loud and evidently angry at one point yelling “what’s French for I don’t fucking care?” Charming. We tried to numb the pain with tequila, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

8.5/10

Haché, Camden

Having read complimentary things about Haché I persuaded my boyfriend and Rob to eat there (despite not actually knowing the precise location “somewhere near the Subway in Camden,” it’s certainly very handy to have 2 companions with Iphones in just such situations!

Along we trotted to Inverness Street (of course, it’s not near the Subway at all! Oops) and I must say I had bigged it up somewhat, something which I felt I could do with confidence due to the gushing reviews posted by Dos Hermanos, the well respected food blogger. They claim that Haché provide ‘easily the best’ burgers in London. (They did plump for the 14oz steak burger though, this is no longer even offered, instead it's a 12oz).

The name haché is a reference to the chopping method used to form these hand made patties as apposed to the usual mincing. I opted for the Steak au Naturel, Thomas had the Steak Catalan with chorizo and chilli and Rob took the Steak Blue Cheese. We threw in some fries and grilled halloumi for good measure and all concluded that actually, whilst the meat is good quality and cooked superbly to your liking, it is not better than GBK. I do have a slight problem with GBK, 3 infact, 1) I was once very ill after a visit there when I indulged in the Chicken, Avocado, Bacon burger (though I think this a conplete coincidence and in no way down to the food), 2) I find them very difficult to manage, preferring to eat my burgers with my hands rather than knife and fork. They are enormous and I often find myself going for a junior burger because of this which disappoints me because I am not a junior, but even they are very good, and 3) You have to go to the counter and order for yourself, I am generally a very lazy person.

At Haché you are directed to a table and the waiting staff bring you your food and drink, that’s what we like! How novel. And their burgers are indeed very good. The 3 of us agreed that their downfall is the bun. The ciabatta bread is a little dry and overly floury. The bill was reasonable considering that I had wine and there is a service charge included.

I believe that my quest for the ultimate burger will end in New York come New Year but in London I have to say that GBK reigns supreme. I did have a very good cheese burger at Bistrotheque so I would rate them second with Haché coming in a close third.

6.5/10

Verve

As companies go, the one I work for is renowned in the industry as being pretty hardcore in terms of drinking and partying so each year, come crimbo, the bash is sure to be raucous if nothing else! This year did not disappoint and there were bust-ups a plenty providing welcome entertainment for those not directly involved.

Come 1:30pm we donned our Christmas cracker hats at this year’s chosen venue Verve, St Martin’s Lane. When the invite went out, lips furled at the news. However, as we were quite a large group they catered relatively well considering, service was exceedingly polite but a little slow, the food, however, was surprisingly rather good.
I chose Goatscheese to start which was like a little cake with breadcrumbs served with rocket and caramelised onions. The best starter by far looked to be the smoked salmon though, I wished I’d gone for that.

For main course I had roast turkey, classic, which came with potatoes and vegetables and was rather good if a little stingy in size. The turkey was wrapped in parma ham and was stuffed which was a pleasant surprise and was a whole breast rather than slices. My dessert was raspberry cheesecake which was only passable but yummy enough to conclude that Verve can be commended on the standard of the food but I did head there with very low expectations! To be honest the venue matters not when there’s such fun to be had observing the carnage and in truth it was more about the wine than the food!


My Secret Santa gift was a giant universal remote control, an interesting choice I thought, it’s unlikely it will be lost down the back of the sofa at least.

6/10

Lunch

Post work’s Christmas party....inevitable hangover (less severe than usual though thanks to a brilliantly healthy dinner of cod and vegetables) and next day munchies. My usual favourites come lunchtime are Leon and Tossed as I generally opt for salads or soups and find these places to provide above standard ones.

My all time favourite at Leon being the Superfood Salad. I popped into Waterstones at Lunchtime to purchase a gift and saw the Leon cookbook which they also sell in their shops or online. I might try to recreate the salad for myself but I don’t think I could source such a good quality feta and the book does not specify their supplier.

Today I went to Tossed for lunch. Their St Martin’s Lane branch is very popular and there are often queues snaking outside. They have opened at Westfield shopping centre and seemingly are doing very well for themselves. I was disappointed with the Mexican salad today though, very dry, barely any dressing and not a hint of avocado, they often run out of key ingredients but usually offer an alternative of your choice. Not today though, perhaps the maker of my salad was having a bad day. Perhaps they had their Christmas party yesterday too! In any case, I shall not be returning for a while.

I got myself a gift in Waterstones too – a new 2009 Moleskine diary,

Easily the best diary I have ever had was the 2007 version of this, it was the large day to page one and is perfect if a little hefty but I like that about it. Last year there were limited edition red ones which were a bit special. They are slightly expensive at £16.50 but here you most definitely get what you pay for. Now I just need to bide my time until January 1st!

Hummingbird Cake

I made this on Friday afternoon having sampled Lantana’s version and I have to say it’s the best cake I have ever made. Here’s the recipe:

For the cake:
420 gr Plain Flour
400 gr Fine caster sugar
1tsp bicarbonate of sode
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 large Eggs
Pineapple (1 small tin, 227g, chopped, undrained)
4 small bananas, mashed
2 tsp Vanilla extract
110 gr Pecan nuts, toasted and chopped finely
180ml rapeseed oil

For the icing:
454 gr icing sugar
57 gr unsalted butter (room temperature)
227 gr crème cheese (room temperature)
55 gr pecan nuts, chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract

It's very easy, to make the base, mix and whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another then combine the two throughly.

Toast the pecans for around 8 minutes, either in the oven or in a dry frying pan on the hob (being careful not to let them burn), chop finely and add to the cake mix. Divide between 2 tins (i used 7 inch tins for a thick sponge) which have been greased and lined and bake for 35-40 mins at 180°.

To make the icing, mix all the ingredients with an electric mixer and sandwich the cakes together (when cooled) with 1/3 of the mixture spreading the remaining icing over the top and around the sides of the cakes.

It's wickedly sweet so small portions are recommended serving around 12-14 people or 3 greedier people over the course of the weekend! Everyone should make this, I think that next time I will make lots of smaller ones and perhaps use a variety of nuts (though the pecans are particularly good here because of the high fat content, they contribute to keeping the mixture moist, the pecans and the sea of oil!) Sounds gross but rest assured it's delish!

Christmas Mayhem

This weekend I met Noy at Oxford Circus for a spot of Christmas Party dress shopping!
2pm on a Saturday + Oxford Circus + less than 20 shopping days until Christmas = MADNESS.

There were Morris Dancers, a brass band of Santa’s, a live band performing on a makeshift stage covered in ‘Australia’ (Baz Luhrmann’s latest release) merchandise, clowns, men on stilts, Bob the Builder, Break dancers and many other horrors. I welcome the meagre attempt to pedestrianise Oxford Street in the run up to Christmas but whose idea was it to instead fill the road with these idiots?! Also, officials were yelling through megaphones when anyone actually dared to step foot on the road! Ridiculous. Serves us right I suppose.

Anyway, the mission was accomplished despite all of this, 2 dresses were purchased, for Noy the brief was ‘License To Thrill’ and for me anything goes really, it not mattering what I wear due to the dire standard of venue selected for my work Christmas party, Verve, St Martin’s Lane. Oh dear.

On the plus side I did buy a much needed set of weighing scales and a plastic spatula, baking necessities courtesy of John Lewis where there were tastings available, the highlights being smoked salmon and sausages.

Yours sincerely,
Ebeneezer

Spicy Fish Stew

Last night I made a spicy fish stew. The stars of the stew were to be scallops, the very reason for my hankering to make this dish in the first place. Also there had to be some prawns and I would see what white fish took my fancy at the fish counter.

I plumped for a swordfish steak and some haddock fillets in the end and in actual fact the swordfish was the worthy star come dinnertime. The cost of the meal was high but to offset this, the nutritional value is immense with very little fat. The dish can, of course, be embellished with a dollop of aioli and some nice bread but for the moment the health conscious version suits us.

I believe that this is the kind of dish that even my sister (whose favourites include crisp sandwiches and chicken nuggets and chips) might indulge in with some encouragement – omitting the chilli of course. Kid, here’s how to make it……

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 sticks of celery, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbsp crushed dried chilli
2 tbsp paprika
100ml white wine
1 litre fish stock
3 tins plum tomatoes
10 new potatoes, cut into equal small pieces
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, inc stalks
8 scallops, without coral
1 swordfish steak, skin removed
10 prawns (I used unpeeled, tails on ones)
2 haddock fillets

- heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan
- finely chop the onion, celery, carrots and fry until soft with the garlic (8-10 mins)
- add the paprika and chilli, fry for another minute
- pour in the wine, tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil, add the parsley stalks (bunched together), reduce the heat and simmer for around 45 minutes.
- meanwhile, boil the potatoes and poach the haddock fillets in milk
- add the uncooked swordfish (cut into chunks) and scallops (halved) to the liquid and turn up the heat. Allow 5 minutes then add the raw prawns.
- Assemble in layers in large bowls, haddock fillet, potatoes, vegetables, other fish then ladle the liquid over the top and sprinkle over some parsley.

Obviously stews are so hearty and warming, just perfect for cold wintery evenings. There are reports of widespread snowstorms overnight (mostly in Scotland and Northern England) so this kind of comfort in a bowl is exactly what you want to see on the menu. Tonight’s offering is beef stew courtesy of Thomas. Yum!
I forgot to take a picture so here's an homage to the fish that made it all worthwhile!

Bridget Jones eat your heart out

On Saturday I purchased my first pair of Bridget esque control pants from M&S (where else?) I had flirted with the idea for a while but took the bold step with much encouragement from Nibs who apparently is a regular in the control dept. during her lunch hour. And I completely understand why, it’s like another world! People have really got the wrong idea about these garments, particularly guys who find them unattractive but they are ultimately flattering and can genuinely be sexy too.

I opted for a tummy and bum cincher to wear with a body con type dress from Topshop. Much along these lines


However, I realised that I had not accounted for the fact that the dress has a see through mesh back. Upon further reflection I decided that this didn’t matter. On the contrary, come 10pm the very same evening I was sporting said pants, loud and proud. The mere fact that they streamline the silhouette is so appealing when wearing something tight and means that one can enjoy a week filled with meatballs and curry and brunch at Lantana without a single thought about unsightly bulges in that LBD.

M&S to the rescue!

Lantana

At last for Saturday brunch I ventured to Lantana . This has been most ardently anticipated and I was extremely excited to be able to go following several failed attempts.
My boyfriend, having lived in Australia whilst studying, assures me that the standards of food there are above and beyond anything that I could expect to be served in the UK.
Prior to this information the only representation of Australian cookery I had seen was Bill Grainger’s TV show! To be honest I thought that his series was slightly too good to be true presenting the viewers with an enviable lifestyle with a home on the beach, a beautiful wife, 2 perfect children and a diet that looks so incredibly delectable that it is a wonder they are not all clinically obese.
So, when I stumbled upon Scrambling Eggs (owner Shelagh's blog) I knew instantly upon seeing this picture


that a visit to Lantana was in order, to sample London’s very own slice of aussie eating. An Australian friend was equally keen having relocated to Paris and been unable to source a decent coffee ever since. Lantana use Monmouth coffee and I have to say, it’s the best latte I’ve had since my summer visit to Italy.

Upon arrival we were disappointed to see a full house but were promised it should not be too long a wait, this turned out to be true thanks to the nice chap who offered to share his table with us as he was eating alone.
As for the food, I opted for the beans (with crumbled feta), sausages, spinach and poached egg with sourdough bread. I had such huge expectations and was not disappointed. Nibs went for the eggs on toast with sausages and freshly squeezed orange juice. I was surprised to be impressed the most by the baked beans. They were worlds away from Heinz and so delightfully tomatoey with a slight bite, as beans should have, I think this is a quality they lose when stored in a tin. The Hummingbird cake that I took home for my boyfriend was literally one of the best things I have ever tasted (it was a present honestly!) I think I’ll have a go at making my own next weekend.

The service is efficient and friendly in a casual kind of a way. Something which was not appreciated in one review I’ve read but I found it charming, however (and it pains me to say this) the very nice chap sharing our table was still waiting for his food long after we had finished, despite having ordered at the same time and he was served a latte that he had not asked for. His order had been lost and so his breakfast was free of charge but clearly there are still some issues that need to be smoothed out.

I witnessed a customer eagerly scribbling in a notebook and I believe (whoever they may be) that the words will be complimentary. These neighbours were unable to clear their plates and I think that all the essentials are there to make Lantana a huge success. I shall eagerly be returning with Antipodeans and am sure even they with their higher standards will not be complaining!

9/10

This week I have been......

Listening to Pete and The Pirates ‘Blood Gets Thin’, there’s a clip on their myspace, it’s brilliant!

www.myspace.com/peteandthepirates

Reading ‘Revolutionary Road’ by Richard Yates which has been adapted for the big screen by Sam Mendes. The trailer is available to view on apple trailers and the music is provided by Cat Power with her version of ‘Sea of Love’. The movie is being hotly tipped for Oscar nominations and will have it’s big release in the UK in January with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet at long last reunited after ‘Titanic.’


Eating mostly meatballs, thai green chicken curry and tuna sandwiches with one superfood salad from Leon thrown in. I adore Leon!

Shopping in advance of a party in Maida Vale on Saturday night. I purchased a new outfit yesterday. The event is titled ‘Ich Bin ein Berliner’ on account of all 4 of the hosts being German. Hmmm, hence no theme for outfits. Anything goes. So I got a dress and some boots which I love and they were reduced from £80 to £25 at Topshop, bargain!

And being very excited about brunch tomorrow at Lantana, finally! I’ll report on Monday.

Vampires and Nigella

Finally, after fighting against technical and transatlantic issues, my boyfriend and I were able to watch the True Blood season finale last night!!!!!!!!! Whilst eating Thai green curry, what better way to spend an evening? (The curry btw, was a slightly adapted version of Nigella’s curry in a hurry from Nigella Express and we both agreed was a great success).

Back to television, it was hugely entertaining; there were even tears (from me of course, but there often are to be honest so that’s no measure of quality TV). The only disappointment being that we are left with soooo many cliffhangers. Where’s Lafayette? Did Bill feed on him? What’s with Maryanne? Is she a shape-shifter and how does she know Sam? Why does Sam have a stash of cash and was he making a hasty getaway? Has Jason really become a born again Christian? How annoying is Jessica and what will Sookie make of her return to Bill?
The closing credits promised the new series will air next summer, how will we bare the wait? It will be torturous. However, it could have been an awful lot worse I suppose.

General consensus on message boards and the like is that as grand finales go, it was a bit of a disappointment and I will concede that more could have been made of the main event where the killer was killed by our heroine. I mean, Bill was melting! Picture this if you will: A vampire, attempting to save his human girlfriend from the clutches a crazed murderer, in a graveyard, whilst at the same time being reduced to cinders because he’s ventured out of his coffin and braved the sunlight. It was very intense but in conclusion could have been even more dramatic.
One of the initial attractions to the programme are the opening titles. Jace Everett’s ‘Bad Things’ is a rousing song which kick starts each episode with its infectious riff. The official soundtrack to the show, when released, is set to be amazing. Roll on summer 2009!

True Blood

This evening my boyfriend and I will be watching the season finale of True Blood a new HBO show adapting the 'Sookie Stackhouse' series of novels by Charlaine Harris.
Anna Paquin is brilliantly cast as the innocent Sookie and the result is another fine show from the genius writer/director Alan Ball.
As exciting as it is to watch the finale, it is somewhat bittersweet when thinking of how long it will be until season 2 airs in the US. We shall be concentrating on The West Wing until then and looking forward to the UK premiere of the pilot episode.

Boo in Kent - The Hare

Over the weekend I trekked back to the motherland of Kent and stayed with relatives for a couple of nights. The reason for the trip was to head to a much loved and trusted pub with the girls and have a hearty lunch to combat the big freeze.

The Hare is a Brunning and Price establishment, a brewery with classic English pubs in, somewhat randomly, the South East and the North West exclusively.
The menu consists primarily of classic English dishes like Toad in the Hole, Fish and Chips, Ploughman’s, Ham, Egg and Chips and Sausage and Mash. These had always been perfectly presented with very generous portion sizing meaning that reservations were advisable due to the popularity of the place.

A firm favourite from the menu among our group was always the 4 Cheese Baked Macaroni. This dish was gargantuan in size and earned the nickname ‘the trough’ due to the vessel in which it was served and to it’s guilt inducing nature. Not for the feint hearted it often got the better of us but was a welcome mainstay on the menu.

That said, our eager foursome ventured to Langton Green at 1pm on Saturday and one of us inevitably opted for the trusty old mac and cheese. However, after waiting for more than an hour what arrived was a bowl of pasta (chiocciole, - not macaroni) with barely a hint of sauce and a thick layer of breadcrumbs sprinkled over the top making the whole dish virtually unpalatable because it was so dry. The overwhelming taste was cinnamon, an interesting and wholly unwelcome take on macaroni cheese. Even the trough gone replaced with a regular green bowl. I suppose this is more in keeping with the ‘light bite’ that the Hare’s 4 Baked Macaroni Cheese has always claimed to be however, we all agreed it is a deeply unsatisfying turn of events.

The other dishes selected were Steak and Ale Pie with cauliflower cheese and Slow Roasted Beef with dauphinoise potatoes. More successful but still lacking something and not up to the usual standard to which we had become accustomed when dining here.
With the benefit of hindsight, we might have known that standards have dropped when there were many empty tables where once it would have been impossible to find a space. A shame, possibly a off day….

6/10

WC1E

Last night I ventured to Fitzrovia. I used to work in this area and upon my return I am suitably impressed by developments. There are several places of interest in the vicininty, Lantana, a brunch/lunch Aussie cafe about which I have read many positive things, Charity shops on Goodge Street, El Burrito - a new and very popular (queues sprawling outside daily come 1pm) Mexican eatery, Busaba Eathai - far less croweded than the Wardour St branch and a mere 5 minutes walk away, and, as I learnt yesterday, a fine little street, Torrington Place, with a Patisserie Valerie and a Planet Organic. Very unexpected.
I was in the area to meet my boyfriend for some after work refreshment in the good company of his Birkbeck university classmates.
I met them at The Marlborough Arms, a pub described as 'A haunt for members of academia'. I had been warned that conversation would largely revolve around computer programming and related topics and so came prepared to look very interested and engrossed in conversation whilst allowing my mind to wander.....what's for dinner? What shall I wear tomorrow?
Some confusion arose when upon hearing the acronym PDA I foolishly assumed they were referring to public displays of affection, in actual fact they meant Personal Digital Assistant, of course, how stupid of me!

That said I had an immensely enjoyable evening and the pub provided a refreshingly relaxed environment in comparison to most others in Central London being busy enough to maintain ambience whilst also securing seating!
The evening's only downpoints were

1) feeling the (slightly tipsy) need to defend my fondness for reality television?





I've not been following this series of I'm a Celebrity however I seem strangely aware and up-to-date with the latest happenings. This is also true of most soaps.

2) Travel difficulties thanks to the ticket machines at Warren Street

3) The kebabs purchased and consumed upon arriving home knowing full well that this would result in a feeling akin to food poisoning the morning after. It always seems like a good idea at the time...... One week we had 3 in 7 days. At this point we realised enough is enough and this has to stop. The guys in the kebab shop knew who we were. The shame! Last night returning to the scene of our crime felt very wrong and we knew it. I talk myself into the 'if I have halloumi and salad in pitta, it's not quite so bad is it?' school of thought. Silly girl.
In conclusion, next time I'm back in Fitzrovia I hope it will be for a spot of organic grocery shopping or brunch of the antipodian variety though I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot more of the Marlborough Arms in the coming months.

Red

Last night I dyed my hair.....oh dear! I have been colouring my hair for many years now and recently went red taking inspiration from the likes of Julianne Moore and Isla Fisher who beautifully flaunt their auburn locks. I am eternally envious of those who have enough money and balls to change their hair so often and so drastically.
Going from black to red was a job worthy of seeking professional help and courtesy of my ever generous boyfriend I ventured to Toni and Guy for a few hours which made the whole thing a fairly smooth transition.
6/7 weeks down the line, with 1 inch roots I reached for the Scwarzkopf Live Colour XXL last night and am fairly pleased with the results. Suitably Autumn/Wintery i feel for the approaching cold spell!

Tamarind and Paps

On Monday night i was in Mayfair for an anniversary dinner at Tamarind on Queen St. On the same night Brad and Angelina were in town at the nearby Curzon cinema for a private screening of her new offering 'The Changeling'. There has been mention of an Oscar nomination come January for Angelina following the Academy's snub last year for her role in 'A Mighty Heart'. So, that explains the presence of the paparazzi lurking on the street corner.

I had earlier in the day been pleased to discover Tamarind offers a set menu for early diners making this michelin starred Indian restaurant accessible to all for a reasonable £28.00 for 2 courses including a bottle of wine!

However, upon requesting the set menu the waiting staff offered only the £50 and £70 options of 3 or 4 courses. The reluctance to acknowledge something which is clearly offered on their website is disappointing. In addition upon telephoning to book a table for 6:45 we were told in no uncertain terms that there was no availability after 6:30. So, 6:30 it was, puzzling when the restaurant was barely 1/3 full all evening.

Anyway, the matter of the food, it was certainly superior to the average fare one can expect from their trusty local takeaway but is it really worth three times the price? Plus wine, plus service? I'd have to say no. Sure it was the best nan bread I have ever had, and curry houses do not generally offer scallops on the menu but in all I would say stick to your local.

I always find the service in Indian restaurants to be above average however this in itself seems strangely not in keeping with the comfort eating ethos of hearty indian cooking. This, I suppose is the image they are attempting to move away from, and are indeed succeeding if this is their aim. I shall be sticking with the Tiffin Tin, Tufnell Park when seeking out that spicy indulgence for the forseeable future.

7/10

Eeeeek!!!!

Done it, at last.
I've been thinking about blogging for a while due, in the main, to my growing interest in and respect for others who blog. I first became aware of blogspot via fashions blogs and more recently have been investigating foodie ones in advance of a New Year holiday. So I expect that my thoughts will be primarliy food/film/celebtrity/popular culture related as these are the things that mainly infiltrate my mind though work and general interest. Hmm, my first blog, i'd hoped it would be something more momentus, or relevant, or interesting and it's none of these things. Oh well, I have no grand plan or delusions of popularity or anything, I just get very bored!