CUZZY CUZ, TATTOO FUZZ

THURSDAY again, and I promise there will be no offensive photographs. What I have learnt is that:

ONE] I'm pretty lucky: I am pretty lucky to have lots of first cousins, and luckier that three of them are girls
         all around the same age as me. Last night they all came over to mine straight after work/uni [bearing
         gifts of flowers, bread, ice cream and sangria ingredients; they clearly know me so well] I cooked up a
         [tapas] storm which ended with all of us having chorizo faces and carb fingers. Whilst we couldn't move,
         there was obviously still room left for desert, which involved us making jam tarts with the leftover pastry
         from my flaouna episode and eating that with spoonfulls of Ben & Jerry's. Suffice to say I would have been
         happy never to see food ever again after that, but the main feeling I was left with [other than indigestion]
         was a happy one. In between the gut-battering was a lot of laughing, an agony aunt session, and a lesson
         in 'Frank Ocean'. If you have family your age, don't forget to go round with some food soon!

Here's the obligatory 'joint selfie' with a spoon.

Here's the very-fruity-therefore-healthy Sangria.

And here we all are clearly before food.

TWO] Electronic tattoos exist: Not for megalolz, they were originally created to help track the health of
          sick patients, but Motorola want to try and use them as some form of 'authentication'. Because
          we're too lazy to type these days?! Excuse me for overreacting, but this is all getting a little Blade
          Runner. The real name for these things are 'Biostamps' [as if to fool us into thinking they are in
          some way organic I assume], and they move with the tattoo-ee's movements. Here's a link to the story on

          the Mail Online with photos detailing the LEDs and sensors amongst the body of the tattoo. Here's what I
          think of the matter:

THREE] Degus love the camera: To finish, I have some photos of the posey degu, Chili. Feisty like her name
             and basically on a constant search for the camera.

Action shot.

I especially like the head-tilt in this one.

Tomorrow I'll be getting merry with my sister who has finished this year's exams as of earlier today!

God how I miss univeresity summer holidays.

Drink responsibly.

Lots of love, 

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com

PLEASE DON'T READ IF EATING [OR ABOUT TO EAT; ESPECIALLY PIZZA]

TODAY I have learnt that:

ONE] It is possible for me to be put off pizza: Yes, today is the day that I have finally been putt off pizza. On
         the phone tonight I was told by someone I know [and who therefore knows my love of a particular
         cheesy, doughy dish] that their leg 'Looks like pizza'. 'What in God's name can this mean?' I thought. Then
         I remembered that they had fallen off a bike, thus meaning that in some way, the injury sustained must
         have made the leg look like pizza. Sadly this thought did not make me feel any better, especially as I had
         agreed to receive a photo:

The text was followed with the words 'Free salad bar!'...

      I apologise to you all, but I had to share it. It is making me feel so sick but I can't stop LOOKING AT IT;
      mainly in disbelief. And so there it is, pizza has officially been ruined for me forever. Kids, please wear
      padding when cycling.

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com

SUMM[OJITO]ER

THIS weekend has actually felt like a long one, for the first time in what seems like many months' worth of Bank Holiday weekends. I won't go into everything i've done, but what I have learnt is:

ONE] Regents Park is actually massive: I knew it was large, but I hadn't realised quite how large. You get to one
         flat, grassy area and think, yep, this is great, only to realise that there's a path leading to quite a different
         area with beautiful flowers, fountains and people wearing inappropriate clothing. Not to mention the
         ZOO you can catch a peak into from one of the paths. I think I saw a penguin swimming, unless it was
         just a bit of dirt floating around the pool.

Here's my view from a bench. This fountain attracted
every dog in London, one which proceeded

to wee in the bit where the dogs drink from.

         In front of the fountain is a whole other part of the park I didn't even venture into, but it looks like
         the kind of place I would have loved to run down/through as a primary school child. I've been told that
         the weather is going to go to pot after today, so thought I'd make the most of it and top up the tan [i.e
         make myself one less shade of pasty. Not the pastry type.]

TWO] Something about the sun makes me want Mojitos: There is no other time of the year that makes me really
          want to go to the effort of buying bacardi, soda water, fresh mint and lime [we always have sugar in our

          flat], but for some reason, sun + heat = mojito. The best one I have ever had is in a pool bar [a bar in a
          swimming pool; I'm not that good at snooker] in Abu Dhabi. I like fruity drinks and I like chilis. 'No
          problem. How does a raspberry and chili mojito sound?' Er, GREAT. And it tastes as good as you'd
          imagine. I have yet had the energy to make one, but if we get one more sunny day this year I might be
          tempted.

In the meantime, we settled for the standard, refreshing, limey version.

THREE] I put a new song up, as promised: One more song has been added to my Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

             This is probably [hopefully] going to be a regular occurence. I may be doing a gig in June but I'll

             let you know more details soon.

love

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com

WEEKEND NEON-NESS

IT is finally Friday, and we won't resume normal business until Tuesday, which is brilliant because:

ONE] We won't be cold: Apparently we're going to reach highs of 19c at some point, which is brilliant because
         we're having what I like to call 'November Weather' at the moment. Nondescript, boring, unhappy weather.

This is me since last October, pretty much.

TWO] IT IS NEARLY HOLIDAY TIME [for me]: So I will be hitting the highstreet [something I don't have much
          faith in recently] to find something suitable for nights out in 30[ish] degree heat, and since I haven't had to
          adjust my wardrobe at ALL this year, I have some catching up to do. The problem I'm having at the
          moment is how to avoid sequins and neon colours. What if I don't want to go out in a fluorescent orange
          top with I'M A GEEK sprawled across the side? What if I don't want to wear a bikini with sequinned
          hearts all over it? Results will be posted tomorrow.

http://www.liveluvcreate.com/image/neon_clothes-205235.html

This is basically what I see when I walk into H&M.

WISH ME LUCK

STANLEY

COUNTDOWN CANNES CANNES

I'VE been a little quiet recently because I've been writing and recording [plug], the results of which will be up on my Bandcamp and Soundcloud at some point this weekend, hopefully. In between all of this I have learnt that:

ONE] At heart, i'm still a child: I know this mainly due to the fact that all I think about all day is how long I have
         left until I 'see Mickey' [go on holiday to Disney World]. This year I am lucky enough to be going for slightly
         longer, something that's sure to see me look a gloomy mess the minute I get back home. The things I am
         looking forward to the most are:
                  a] Having worries that are no bigger than 'Should I have ten pancakes, or eleven?' OR 'Should I go on
                      Tower of Terror twice in a row or leave it a few minutes?'.
                  b] Early-morning swims before breakfast.
                  c] The Florida temperament that makes me want to wish everyone a 'magical day' when I get home.
                      [My mom actually writes that to me in emails and at the end of text messages at the moment].
                  d] Not remembering what day of the week it is, and
                  e] Feeling WARM.

Here I am last year at Hollywood Studios.

Feeling warm.

      By next week i'll probably be counting down the minutes - just a warning. Either way, I'm finding it very
      difficult to concentrate on anything else, so my next song may or may not be Disney- related. Hopefully it

      'may not' be.

TWO] Photos of the Cannes Film Festival are bad: Mainly because they make me daydream of being on a
         constant yacht-based holiday with sexy friends. It is the perfect holiday really. Sun, cinema and
         sambucca shots! Well, probably sambucca shots in the case of one Leonardo DiCaprio who was seen
         to be partying 'like it's ya birfday' like a 'g' at a club. It looked as weird as it sounds, but still hasn't
         managed to put me off him, no matter how many pounds he puts on his face or into buying bizarre
         hats. This year it seems the 'peek-a-boob' dress is the 'thing to be seen in', as women of all shapes and
         sizes have braved this revealing look to turn the heads of the photographers and the public alike.

         Picture of the day is Irina Shayk on the Daily Mail who is sporting the 'reverse' peek-a-boob; whereas

         most of these dresses are cut out on the outside, her dress is cut in the cleavage area.

http://photos.masslive.com/republican/2013/02/braxton.html

This however, from the Grammys, is much worse.

      Anyway, by next year I will somehow be at Cannes Film festival and not being thrown out. How? Who cares?

As I mentioned, this weekend will see me uploading a new song, aswell as catching up on sleep, eating a lot of bad food and enjoying the weather that has been promised to us. 19c is practically TROPICAL.

love

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com

                  

PIZZ' A MY HEART

IT is Thursday [again]. Here's what I've learnt since the last time:

ONE] It is very easy to make an excuse for pizza: This is a fact, especially when you can find vouchers online.
         In fact, I was seen to abandon an amazing Pizza Hut code because my total ended up as £0.00 and I
         had to spend a minimum of £9.99. To go ahead this would have meant me buying at least three side
         dishes, plus my pizza which, might I add, I was going to eat alone. That's too big a feat, even for someone
         who loves pizza as much as I do. I actually ended up just buying one thing and spending more money..
         MENTAL I know.

My pizza did involve cheesy bites, but definitely did not

look like that..

TWO] I must be a very 'visual' person: Because now all I want to do is order a pizza.

THREE] Someone has invented pizzas 'healthier than a salad'!!!! - Naturally, that phrase has been coined by the
             Daily Mail for pizzas that are actually said to be 'nutritionally balanced' by their creators Eat Balanced,

             I for one think this is a brilliant idea for people like me who can't ever give up pizza but like to think they
             could maintain a healthy, balanced diet aside from the doughy heaven. 

             These wonderful pizzas are available at Ocado, et voilá! Here they are, at a competitive £3.49 per pop

             which is a mere fraction of the price of a fast-food style alternative, or others available at supermarkets
             which frankly don't have the same qualities. I won't be able to fully judge whether that is good value for

             money since I always like to check the size [which does matter, in this case], but so far, I can say that

             I am most definitely intrigued. My birthday was sadly five days ago, but belated edible presents from

             anyone will not be shunned!

THREE] I have started writing/recording again: Ignoring the rather shameless self-plugging going on here [which
             actually sounds more painful than it is], I'd like to let everyone know that I am back and might even have
             an acoustic set lined up for June. More details to follow. In the meantime, here are my Bandcamp and
             Soundcloud pages. For any music-related emails please email stavrinikoumi[at]gmail[dot]com. Please
             feel free to re-post any of these links as much as you [can] want.
             There is also another song on its way. MORE TO FOLLOW.

This weekend will hopefully involve a lot of lie-ins and not a lot of rain, but this Monday will definitely involve a trip to the Marriott Hotel to use up my Red Letter Day voucher courtesy of work. Think 'animal soundtracks' and lavender oil.

Love
STANLEY

FOOD-DRINK-DRINK-FOOD-DRINK-DRINK BIRTHDAY HEADACHES REALLY STINK

SATURDAY saw me celebrate twenty five years of my existence, but really the love began on Thursday night

when my boyfriend brought home my favourite dinner:

Fish 'n' Chips [don't forget the mushy peas]with a side order of

melted chocolate fudge cake.

Friday night saw me say goodbye to a lovely colleague and great manager, as well as being forced to down three shots of sambuca all before me running to barbican and catching my train by about two minutes.

Here's an old photo of me after a few sambuca shots.

Exactly.

On Saturday I woke up to this: [We are going to Disney World in a few weeks, I am not merely obsessed with Minnie Mouse].

I then made my family take me to the Black Country Living Museum. Surprisingly we were not the oldest/only people there. Unsurprisingly we bought about ten bags of sweets:

[Insert whitty caption here]

And after a day of mining and grocery shopping in a Victorian village, I was taken to Asha's Restaurant in Birmingham. This restaurant has to be one of the best I have ever been too, and probably the best Indian restaurant. It is not a curry house but [excuse me for sounding poncey] a refined Indian eatery which, serving dishes from saag aloos to lobsters, pretty much caters for all tastes. Just before we eventually headed out to Snobs I was detained in the corridor and told to sit back down for my birthday present [and no, it did not involve a semi naked man gyrating on my aloo gobi]. In fact, I was given a Flaming Lamborghini, which apparently is comprised of sambucca [oh god], kahlua, Bailey's Irish Cream and blue curacao...[all after an evening of refreshments]

I'm pretty much entirely freaked out now having stumbled across

an article by the Sun who claim that a girl's face was entirely burnt

after being given a Flaming Lamborghini as a birthday treat.

Needless to say I was entirely merry, but apparently it was a great night:

On a slightly more hungover note, Sunday saw us going back down to London to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of a lovely lady, for which we were invited to the Connaught Hotel [which eventually saw me also drink another glass of champagne and two mojitos]. Here I proceeded to stuff my face with tastiest sandwiches I think I've ever had and the most beautiful little cakes.

We also had scones and cakes after all of this.

Also the bar and barmen look like something out of Titanic.

And finally, after leaving these beautiful surroundings, we went home, watched the repeat of Sunday's F1 race [which was in Barcelona] 'til 12am whilst half sleeping and half eating pizza.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who made sure I had a wonderful weekend and thank you to my body for somehow managing to function at work today.

LOVE

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com

BLACK COUNTRY BIRTHDAY BLOB FISH

IT is Thursday again and I must say, I haven't learnt a whole lot, mainly because my left tonsil has been giving me absolute jip. So in light of this, here's what the week so far has taught me:

ONE] It is very difficult to do things without your tonsils: Since my job requires me to talk all day, I found
         myself in a bit of a pickle. How do you speak on the phone, or to the person opposite you, or to the person
         across the room without moving your tonsils? You can't is the answer to that. Even if you breathe or yawn
         your tonsils are there, making a point. What's even more annoying is that their full purpose isn't even
         understood by doctors to this day; yet having them out could mean ending up in intensive care if anything
         goes slightly wrong because they are so close to the windpipe. Why do such useless things cause such
         annoyance?! They're also as spectacularly ugly as the famous blob fish.

spectacularly ugly blob fish.

TWO] Sometimes you just don't grow up: On Saturday I will be going to the Black Country Living Museum with

          my family, not because we've hijacked a Year 1 school trip and not because I left something there when
          I was seven. No, we are going because it is my birthday and I bloody love that place. Anywhere with a

          Victorian sweet shop, fish and chip shop and bakery wins my heart. Anywhere with those three things

          plus the rest of an entire Victorian village wins my attention aswell. Sometimes the best way to
          understand something is to be thrown in to it , which is exactly what the Black Country Living Museum

          does. Short of seeing Dr Sam Beckett's Ziggy or the Dr's time-travelling postbox, you could be excused for

          thinking that you'd been on some bizarre Back To The Future-esque trip. The moment you step in to the
          village [which has been re-constructed almost brick-for-brick to its original form], you are immersed into

          the life of a Victorian villager in the middle of the industrial hub of Britain. Ever wondered what school was
          like in those days? NO NEED TO WONDER, just step into a lesson and spell a word wrongly so you can
          sit in the corner with a dunces hat on. Did you also know that boiled Victorian sweets were often made
          from beetles? I did, because I've been told SEVEN TIMES [the amount of times I have been to this place]
          and each time bought at least two bags of the sugary goodies. So now, on the [sort of] eve of my
          25th birthday, I am again looking forward to stepping back in time, learning a few things and stuffing my

          face with lardy chips, loaves of bread and bags of sugar. For the first time though, i'll be old enough to go
          into the pub. Now that is an achievement.

This is how happy I am going to be

Unfortunately I am told that the weather this weekend will leave much to be desired.

But that's OK, because I can eat sweets inside and Snobs is also indoors. Can I just point out that after at least
seven years of going to this club, I have only just realised they have a website.

LOTS OF LOVE

STANLEY

THEY LOVE TOMONCÉ

SINCE today is Thursday I'm supposed to have learnt a whole host of wonderful, mind-widening things; unfortunately this isn't the case, but what I have learnt is that:

ONE] Japan has, once again, made my day: Yes, thanks to the Daily Mail I now know that the latest craze
         amongst Japanese teenagers is to dye [and cut] their hair in such a way that resembles 'ripe tomatoes'.
         I mean, I know I probably shouldn't be shocked, especially after the whole 'Bagel Head' situation, but
         I am. Obviously the 'cartoon culture' is much more mainstream in Japan than it is here, with fictional
         characters being almost as famous as real actors, but I still don't understand the appeal. Tomatoes
         are juicy and very healthy, but is that enough reason to mold your hair into one? Who knows, but what
         I am looking forward to seeing is the 'next phase' of this craze because:
                   a] there will definitely be someone who tries to to go all alternative and 'do the kiwi', and
                   b] looking at these pictures genuinely makes me 5% happier.

Thanks My Modern Metropolis for this absolute gem. 

TWO] London Grumblr loves Beyoncé: This blog is pretty funny at the best of times, but I thought i'd share this

          Beyoncé tribute and dedicate it to everyone who has been to see her in the last week or so. [i.e for
          my sister and cousin who both came home asking why they weren't her].

          I'll let the blog do the talking, but the second picture on the first link of the blog [not the bey bey tribute] is

          how I have felt this week.

Thanks Loukia Koumi for this beautiful photo.

THREE] Holly Hodges is KEEPING the girly degus: I knew this would happen, but now it is really happening. The

             little baby boy degu is being taken to a lovely new home, but all four of the girls are staying Casa

             Hodges with their two mammas [they're not lesbians] and the hampster.

Here's my favourite little shy baby [right] with her two
mammas.

            I really hope that boy degu is taken away in time, otherwise there could potentially be
            around twenty new 'additions' to the family in the next few weeks...

Tonight i'll attempt to make the Flaounes mentioned in last night's post.

I've been ordered to put photos up so..well yeah you'll see how they end up.

STANLEY

Let me know if you have learnt anything this week: SEND SHORT VIDEOS to whatstanleysays@gmail.com

CHEESY CHOPS

TODAY I have learnt that:

ONE] It takes around half an hour to grate a whole big-ish bowl of cheese:

        But why on earth would I be doing that? [you might ask]. Well, tomorrow I will attempt to make 'Flaounes'
        which, according to Wikipedia, is a 'special Easter food eaten on the island of Cyprus'. It is basically a
        cheese-filled pastry with sultanas, garnished with sesame seeds. You're supposed to make them on Good
        Friday [which for Orthodox Christians is THIS Friday] to break your Lent fast, but since I'll be on train then,

        I decided it best to save myself the trouble of juggling flour and cheese on a moving vehicle. Apparently

        there is a Guinness World Record for the largest flaouna ever made, which measures 8ft long and 4ft wide.

        That's basically enough cheese and pastry to make two lifesize cheese-men [short men, obv]. Anyway, 

        this is what they are supposed to look like: 

They're not exactly pretty, but they taste...

well they taste ok.

If I finish making them i'll post a photo of the end result whether they worked or not [by request of my grandma].

WISH ME LUCK.

STANLEY

whatstanleysays@gmail.com