Hello. This is my little self-indulgent internet realm.
I'm Christine, a Danish girl living in Glasgow, Scotland with my husband Kevin.
This is where I gather various things, mostly to entertain friends and family.
I'm a jeans-and-T-shirt kinda gal. I'll dress up when there is occasion to do so, but as anyone who sees me on a daily basis will know, I really don't care for fancy clothing. I like my plain but warm cardigans. I find clothes shopping frustrating and prefer to buy things online.
I've been saying I wanted a new pair of Doctor Martens for a while - I just hadn't got 'round to actually buying them, mostly because the regular black 1490 ten eyelet boot doesn't seem to have won the favour of the current-time fashionistas and thus I haven't actually seen them in any Glasgow shops I happen to pass.
I like DMs because they're good value. My father shook his head when I bought my first pair as a teenager; he reckoned they were just a ridiculously expensive fashion item. Ten years later they were finally worn out after continued use day in, day out, summer through winter, and I lamented them with a comparison to the countless pairs of lesser quality footwear I had owned and which never seemed to last as long as my affection for them.
It wasn't the name that attracted me, it was the high standard of manufacture. Therefore, I am by no means bound by any loyalty to the Doctor Martens brand. In this week's Time magazine there was a page about Oakley (the eyewear makers) and their constant innovation. It was basically an ad, like the iPad tablet "review" 3 weeks prior. Unlike the Apple article, this one had the desired effect - it brought their boots to my attention. The Elite Assault Boot was designed for the U.S. Elite Special Forces to use in assault missions (says the spiel on the Oakley site). With soles like tractor tyres, it is not stylish footwear for a lady. But the point is, these boots look like they could actually outlast ME.
I told Kev that these ultra-durable boots were only sold in a handful of shops worldwide, one of them being a London Oakley store. I mentioned that seeing as I'm going to London in April I should probably give them a ring in March to check stock levels and sizes. I told him these boots were fire-proof and puncture-proof and would keep your feet safe through a nuclear armageddon. I may have embellished a little, but he got the idea.
And he asked what they cost, so I showed him the article in Time, which sets the price at $500. A quick conversion of today's exchange rate makes that £323. And Kev's response - as if I was buying a pair of high-fashion heels from Milan which could only be worn on that one day of the year where Scotland is dry - was, "That much - for a pair of SHOES?!"
*sigh* Men! Never happy...
Doctor Martens (left) - Oakley Elite Assault Boot (right)
The most active part of the site remains the My Music page. I have just uploaded fresh and slightly better versions of Please Don't Play the Piano and The One I Loved. I'm working on Someday, Xenia, Wolf's Moon and a couple of other songs at the moment, and now that I have bongo drums I'm plotting ways to work them into the songs as well! Still quite chuffed with my recording of Moon Woman - if you've not heard it yet, please indulge me and do so.
I have removed the guestbook. To be honest, guestbooks are a relic from the 90s where people visited each other's "homepage" and left a polite message. Not on trend in 2010. It's had a good run - the guestbook has existed since I first created christinereid.com back in 2004. I'll add a feedback form to the site eventually when I get my arse in gear and learn some PHP. Until then, anyone whose opinion matters has my email address...
By now the site has had its current design for over a year (since The Big HTML Revamp), and it was always intended to be temporary - something that would suffice until I had the time to put some fancy CSS together with clever images and all. I suppose this year I should aspire to either paint something a little bit more interesting or get some photography to make the damn place more stylish (you wouldn't believe the comments I get about the green background... and pretty much all of them are from my own husband). Suggestions would be appreciated.
