Musical pants? – Your suggestions please!

Dear Pants Fans, can you help? The fantastic Nigel of electropuppy infamy has been working away on getting artists to agree to donate tracks to a CD which we can sell to support whomadeyourpants?

80’s legends Howard Jones, Kajagoogoo and other artists including The Young Punx and Scarlet BLONDE have donated tracks, and so the album is taking shape. This has come at a really good time as pretty soon the project runs out of money to pay me (it has money for lots of other stuff, like sewing machines, English training, needles but it’s been given  specifically for those things so it’s not a good plan to borrow from one bit to pay another bit) and without me spinning all the plates in the middle, so to speak, we’ve just got a bit mess of smashed crockery and no pants.  Not a good plan.

So what we need now is a name. And some album art.

If you or anyone you know are interested in making (polite) suggestions for the former, or designing something for the latter, please reply in the comments below or email me.  The logo and font used on the website can be provided for people who want to make something in the same styles as the site.

You might  even get a free CD..go on.. support pants!

Filed under: Uncategorized, Support pants - the musical

Welsh girls bonding over stationery

Right now, I’m supposed to be half way through a rendition of Adio Querida, or possibly, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free. But instead, I’m at home, on my sofa, and very glad of it. First night at home, not at meetings or events, in ages – and the last one for a while as well. So I’m making the most of it.

Things are still going well. I’ve applied for liability insurance, and two more grants, and had a great meeting with Cris, someone described to me as ‘the’ person in the South to talk to about Social Enterprise. I’m set up in my office (though I may need to move into another one in the same building) and can do a whole day of work, uninterrupted – which is more satisfying than any job I have had since working at Dorothy Perkins as a teenager.  Money, as ever, is tight and projected to get tighter very very soon unless something miraculous happens. All the money we have been granted is great, but there’s nothing in there to pay me, even part time, after the end of March. Hmm..

Anyway. Happier things. I took some bits out this morning for PAT testing. A generous friend has done this on everything that needs it, for free, which is brilliant. And as I was leaving (the second time, having got half way there and realised my harddrives were still in the office) I saw the chap that runs the building , and the woman from the office next to mine, chatting. I said hello and they stopped me. Turs out her husband has a whole load of office furniture that he needs to get rid of…by next Wednesday. And they wondered if I would be interested.

Yes. Very much so.

The nice women came into my office later, and we talked about what was available, and it sounds brilliant. Maybe we can have some desks, chairs, and filing cabinets – this will be brilliant. As the conversation progressed, I realised nice woman is Welsh, and so after we worked out how far away from each other we grew up (about 18 miles)  we talked rugby and home, and jewellery (woman makes jewellery in her spare time) and all kinds of nice things.

A few hours later, sitting in the office today, there was a knock at the door, and a voice said, ‘I come bearing gifts’. Two huge boxes of hanging files, an unopened box of A4 envelopes, loads of the little tabs that label hanging files, files to fit inside the hanging ones, perfect for HR records and the like – treasure!

I have to admit I got a bit distracted from funding bids and insurance and panicking about the future, and spent a wee while looking at all the lovely new things. And then it was time to head off to a Womens’ Forum meeting co-ordinated by the lovely Lepsa, which is always interesting, informative, and stimulating. A few things that came up were that we might try to become more of a lobbying group in the city, which sounds great. It transpired that most of us there have concerns, for example, about getting about in the city – walking feels unsafe, bus drivers are felt to be unhelpful – which means we women sometimes limit our activities, or at least, find things we want to do difficult. The ex mayor Parvin Damani suggested that it was down to us to tell the council – and she is right. So we’ll see. We also talked about the new law criminalising kerb crawlers (which we generally liked) – and what this means for the women who might face a drop in income (which is somthing to really consider). All complicated stuff, but interesting and I really like being involved in this stuff. It’s real, it’s important, and it feels like things might really move.

So, I’m not singing. I got home at 6.30 and was due to leave at 7.10, and I was shattered and hungry. I realised there’s no point going out ‘to do something relaxing’ if I am all stressed out about getting there. Better to conk out on the sofa with my yummy home made apple pie, and watch some trashy telly. Plenty time for funding tomorrow, and financial projections, and all sorts of number crunching.

Night night all

x

Filed under: Uncategorized, Women

And I’d like to thank…

The last week has disappeared out from under me and here we are, nearly Wednesday again, the official start of the weekend.I mean to write this last Friday but was frantically busy and then went out for a well earned night out seeing Subgiant at the Soul Cellar. Lots of dancing and jumping about which was just what I needed.

It seems that pants is on a bit of a roll at the moment. I’m nearly all moved into the new office, a few technological teething problems but I do seem prone to them. I was loaned a mobile internet doodah, which doesn’t work, and the printer can;t work with the new ‘puter without the drivers, which are online… but also on a CD which a kind friend has copied for me. But I have rows upon rows of lovely files all marked up and filing up with papers, a desk, stationary, in and out trays to help me be organised – bliss! That’s sounds a bit of a wierd sort of bliss I know, but it’s already making a difference. Today, for the first time, I sat at my desk and did a full afternoon of proper work – and it was wonderful.

One of the grants we’ve been awarded needs my attention this week. It was due to fund work which was scheduled to start now, but because of the delays last year, and other logistical things – like that there are still people in the rooms my landlords want to offer me – so that’s to be tackled tomorrow.  Good news though, I have finally got a nearly complete spreadsheet of all the women I am hoping to work with (info has been kept by me and various other people until now) and realised that about 20 women are in the process of having their Better Off At Work Calculations done. This is progress. Tomorrow I hope to work out some self employment and PAYE stuff with the help of the lovely Helen.

Speaking of the lovely Helen, there are so many people, that I am proud to call friends, without whom  this project would just not be happening and it feels like it’s about time to say thankyou. In no particular order…

Helen, for being my financial guru and being patient when I go blank

Jeff for having a go at pretty much anything

Gareth for mending web stuff in minutes and telling me he’s proud of me

Drew for the site and the dreams I’m entertaining of the next iteration

Gordon for hosting and answering questions when I’m panicking

Mr Stuff for being IT support

Russell for all the help, and the endless patience, and the listening ears.

Tom for design work.

Mark and Frank for the office and the help and advice

Roopa for being a ray of sunshine on a sparkly rainbow

Robert for being utterly sensible and for kicking me up the rear when I need it

Ian for the router

Clare W, Michelle M, Gadjie, Mark B, Gareth and The List for the very generous donations

Nigel Paice of electropuppy.com for the hope of the album and for not minding that I take ages to get back in touch

ScarletBlonde for the tour

Ethel for the offer of promotion

Sam at ethicsgirls for the reassurance, advice and light at the end of the tunnel

And I’m sure there are more but I’m already sounding worryingly like I’m at the Oscars. every single one of the people mentioned above has done something for nothing that they didn’t have to, and that I appreciate massively. You’re all stars.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Support pants - the musical, Supporters, Technology