My Month in Numbers 2014: April

Hello hello.

When I came to look for this post in my Drafts list I kept skimming past it thinking:

"No, this is the post for the end of April, where's this month's post gone?" ...  followed shortly by "Oh ... yes .. this is the end of April ...".

Which can mean only one thing ... it's time for some monthly memory-keeping-by-numbers.

• If you haven't joined in with your own round-up of the past 4 weeks before then you can find all the details you need to play along with My Month in Numbers here.
• And if you have joined in before - and some of you have kept me company while I count for years now [Happy Monthinnumbersversary Paula!] - then you know the drill by now ...
• Write your post, comment, link me up and I'll be round to yours to chat and pin any day now.

Right ... we might as well get going ... I'm starting with you anyway ...

15 [plus me] = the number of people who hopped on the number train for March's round-up.
From reading all your posts I see we seem to have designated March as the official 'Let's Go Crafting in a Converted Barn' month - lots of creative get-togethers in rural settings happening last month! While the remainder of the time was spent making things, eating, meeting up with friends and having days/nights out. Go March! Go us!

44 miles = the distance travelled to see author/humourist David Sedaris.
It's a funny thing going to watch a writer 'perform' live. Fortunately he didn't just sit there and write in his notebook while we watched! He read excerpts from his diaries, unpublished pieces and read stories from his autobiographical books. Oh and he's very very funny.

I was so excited when he began reading one of my favourite chapters from one of his early books. As satisfying as going to see a band and hearing them strike up the opening chords of the song everyone loves ... a definite 'greatest hits' crowd-pleaser moment for me!

And those 44miles we travelled were ... 

206 miles fewer than the distance we travelled last time!  [ talked about that trip in my 3rd ever Month in Numbers post back in March 2010! I love having my number posts to look back on like that!]

Despite having toured for years this was his first tour of the UK where he visited towns outside of London! In the Q&A after his readings someone asked why he'd never gone elsewhere and he said he just ever imagined he could. I think he was just being humble, implying that it never occurred to him he could fill theatres outside the capital ... and while I have mixed feelings about that [we read books up North too!] ...

... I'm just glad he's now realised that non-Londoners also appreciate him. So much in fact that some of them have travelled 588 miles [there and back] to see him!

0.1 miles / 3 minutes = the distance our hotel was from the venue:
Being able to walk to the theatre was the key reason we chose to stay there:

Fortunately is was a great place to stay for other reasons too - but I chatted more about the fabulous hotel - especially the décor -  here in my 'Zoom In Zoom Out' post earlier in the month.

20m high + a 54m wing span = the size of Angel of the North who we dropped by to visit.
In the '52 Weeks of Photos' project I've been following since last August one of the categories of photo I need to collect is 'With an angel' and so ... as we had to pass a GIGANTIC one on our way to stay in Newcastle ... it would have been silly not to stop by for a quick photo:

We've met before, Gormley's Angel and I ... but it's equally as impressive and wonderful every time. [The same can't be said about my little windswept self though!]

Meanwhile back home ...

My #CreatingSpace work-room redecoration project has so far accrued the following statistics:

• 4m of stripy curtain fabric = my curtains will NOT need all 4m worth. In fact I could almost wrap my entire room with that much fabric but ... it was a spur-or-the-moment purchase, I had no sizes with me, IKEA is miles from home .. .and it was better safe than sorry. Depending on how much is left afterward I might make a bag, or an apron or a dress with it! 
• 1 new chair in black. Black was the only colour I said I didn't want for a chair. But, I saw it and liked it .. .and it matched my stripes!  
• 2 tins of paint [read the full story, complete with tears - mine, not yours, it's not that sad! - here]
• 2 days spent painting [see above!]
• 0 floor space in my spare bedroom where I've dumped everything I've yet to sort out.
• 2 charity bags filled with 'stuff'. [How did it all fit in one tiny room?
• 1 big box of stamps, papers, cards etc which I'm still debating where to send. [Charity / a school / Ebay ... basically anywhere but back in my room!!

2048 = the number I managed to reach on the 2048 game which means ... I WON!!

If you haven't yet played the game [quick, run for your life, do not click the link, you will become addicted.You'll lose days ... don't say I didn't warn you!!!] ...

... then basically the idea is to move the numbered tiles around the board bumping ones of the same value into one another. When you do, they merge into one tile and its number doubles. And all you have to do is keep doubling the values until you reach 2048.

Sounds simple enough. But my goodness you just try it ... [no, don't! I've already warned you!!]

Hundreds = the number of hours I spent seeking that elusive 2048 before I finally won.
I'm not being flippant when I say that it was extraordinarily addictive for me. I'm just so grateful I didn't have to pay to play ...

Oh and if numbers aren't your thing then

• (a) I guess My Month in Numbers really isn't up your street either!
• and (b) go Google for variations of the game ... there's one to suit all tastes! My sister reached the end of the Dr.Who version where to win you have to push two David Tenants together to form a Matt Smith!

And with that not-entirely-unpleasant thought floating in the air around us ... let's raise the cultural levels just a little before we go ...

We celebrated Shakespeare's 450th birthday in a manner befitting the genius that he was ... with felt facial hair:  

To add a Shakespearean twist to one of our usual nibbles / wine / TV evenings I prepared felt facial hair in the style of Will's beardyness and printed out some appropriately food and drink related quotes by the bard himself. Such as:

"Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?" Twelfth Night: Act 2, Scene 3.

And "O thou invisible spirit of wine! If thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!" Othello: Act 2, Scene 3

BTW: Did you like how I aged the photos. For authenticity. So they looked like original snapshots from Elizabethan England... ? ;-)

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Right enough of me! Over to you. Comments are welcome whether or not you're joining in with your own numbers. I wish Shakespeare had said something about blog commenting ... I'd have deferred to his greatness here ... but he did say something about goodbyes ... so allow me to paraphrase ...

Parting is such sweet sorrow that I’ll say good night until April becomes May ...

Romeo & Juliet [and Julie] Act 2, Scene 2.

See you soon.

Julie x