He's not just dancing. He's firming his thighs and tightening his buttocks.

It has been a very busy few days. A big project I have been working on at work for the past few weeks kicked off again, so I've spent the last couple of days frantically analysing forms and adding them to a behemoth of a spreadsheet. But it's all good, because it is quite interesting work, but poor Nic was at the sharp end of my big stressy snit yesterday. Anyway, the sun is shining and it is finally Friday, so YESSSSSSS!

C and M came around on Wednesday evening and we had another lovely girly time. C and I dyed our dresses, and I am very pleased with the shade of raspberry red my jersey Asturias dress came out. I'm wearing it to work today and it's very nice indeed, and I think it will be good come the colder weather as I will be able to layer it up. As I have said in earlier posts, I have been reading lots of other blogs recently and I am going to magpie something else from one. At A Typical Atypical, Lauren wrote about fashion wish lists, so here is mine:

1. Wedge knee-high boots, preferably in brown. Fly London had a pair out a few years ago which I loved, and were too expensive. And when I finally decided to buy them and tried them on, they came up too high on my leg. Obviously their target demographic is ladies with longer legs than me! I can't find a picture of them but Harlot brought out a pair a few seasons ago with a covered wedge and they were lovely. I'll just keep looking, I'm going to have to!

2. I want to get one of those lovely halterneck dresses from Vivienne of Holloway….maybe to wear to C's wedding.

3. A really fabulous winter coat. Suggestions welcome. Not black, but I would consider grey.

4. New shoes, always new shoes. I really like these shoeboots (almost) by Irregular Choice from Aspire


In fact, I will buy these. I love the shape of them, and the buttons, and the fact that they are called Flick Flack. I'm easily pleased like that!

That is all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I will have more to add in the future, my eye is always lighting on something and wanting it. Although I have been very good this month so far, in an attempt to have some money when I have my London mystery adventure next weekend with Nic, and for when I go home at the end of the month. I'll buy myself some pretty things in October.

I'm feeling quite tired and full of lurgy (that oh-so-scientific term) and am struggling to think of something else to write in this post. I think I'll bring it to a close here and write more after the weekend. Oh, but I am very excited because my VHS of Day of the Daleks (not available on DVD) bought the other evening on eBay, has arrived. Jon Pertwee didn't like the Daleks all that much but I am very excited about seeing my favourite Doctor taking on the Daleks. Maybe that is a bit lame, but you know what? I DON'T CARE!

If a girl thinks you're in love with her and says she will marry you, you can't very well voice a preference for being dead in a ditch

It feels like a lot of time has passed since Thursday. This is one of the curses of having time off, it screws up your perception of how time passes for the rest of the working week. That's a small enough price to pay, I suppose.

I have had a most enjoyable, although very tiring weekend. Nic was giving a paper at a conference in Winchester so we decided to travel down together and try to make the trip not just work. I found Winchester very charming, although I am sure that the good weather contributed to that as well! Nic and I stayed in a bed and breakfast that we had booked relatively late on, and it was perfect. It was around the corner from the building Nic was giving his paper in, and it was only a short walk from the town centre. It was in a small family home, but it was so clean and bright and comfortable, and the owner really went out of his way to make us feel at home. It was one of the things that made the trip such a pleasure.

Winchester is gorgeous. It reminded me of Canterbury, for obvious reasons, but I think I liked it better thank I like Canterbury. It seemed to have a slightly slower pace. One of the nicest things Nic and I did was to wander through the grounds of the cathedral at night, which is something that we wouldn’t have been able to do in Canterbury. I won't bore you by listing all of the things that we did, but here are some the places we visited:

Buddy's Diner
Nic and I spent ages trying to find somewhere to eat. There are no shortages of restaurants in the city centre, but I had a notion I wanted to eat in a pub. Well, that didn't happen and instead we stumbled on Buddy's Diner, which was brilliant. I have a soft spot for American themed diners, and this one was excellent. They were playing the Monkees on the jukebox when we arrived, they had a drawing of Tony Curtis's star on the Hollywood walk of fame on the wall, and their bean burger was extremely tasty. It was lots of fun!

The Great Hall
Our host recommended we visit here, and it was on our route into the town centre. The main attraction is King Arthur's round table. I was a bit confused by the claims that it dated from 1247 because there is a massive tudor rose in the middle of it, but apparently it was repainted for Henry VIII (I am reserving judgement on this whole business, however) It hangs on the wall of the Great Hall, and on the other gable wall is a mural depicting the royal family tree, right down as far as Queen Victoria. There's not really a huge amount that you can do but it is worth a visit all the same!

We also visited two excellent pubs, The Wykeham Arms which is near the Cathedral, and The Corner House, which is on North Wall. They were very different but I loved them both. The Wykeham Arms won my heart because they don't play music, mobile phones aren’t allowed and you can order sausages at the bar for 50p each. Now that last one isn't much good to me, admittedly, but I admire it all the same. Also, a lot of the tables are old desks from the neighbouring college, which charmed me. The Corner House is a much more modern place, but it was somewhere that I thought I'd like to spend time in if I lived in Winchester. They have a weekly book group and a sewing circle, and free foreign language conversation lessons. Also, Nic enjoyed the Flower Pots bitter they had on tap.

Winchester is definitely a city I'd like to visit again. On Saturday, while Nic was at the conference, I amused myself by wandering around, knitting in the Cathedral gardens in the sunshine, and reading in the library. I was extremely tired by the time we got back to Leamington on Saturday evening but felt happy that we'd had such a pleasing adventure. I always enjoy visiting new places, and Nic and I usually manage to find somewhere exciting or fun or quirky to visit, and Winchester had these spots in abundance.

I seem to spend a lot of my time complaining about tiresome train journeys, so I won’t do that in this entry except to say that I spent the entire journey back up to Leamington being stared out by a really stressy Mancunican woman with a crew cut. I kept my eyes down on my knitting as far as I could! This morning I read this article in the Guardian about noise, and it made me think about my attitude towards noise. I found it quite reassuring that I am not alone! On my (now rather less frequent) commutes to London I had to give up sitting in the quiet carriage because it made it that much more stressful when someone was making noise. I find that I can cope with loud noises reasonably well, but there are some that wear away at me like water torture. They are:

• Electronic beeping of any kind. I can’t understand why everything must beep. On a recent journey I sat opposite someone who was writing a text message, which is fine except she had the keypad tone turned on so every letter made a beep. This is very irritating. My work laptop does the same thing unless I have the speakers muted. Every time I click on something there is an exaggerated electronic clicking sound, and it beeps loudly when an email comes in. I hate it! Electronic beeps and my aversion to them is one of the reasons why I don’t own a digital camera.
• Very loud car engines. Specifically, those being revved by the idiots driving very fast up Dale Street late at night.
• Leaf blowers, strimmers, lawnmowers (to a lesser extent) It is that whiny buzzing that I find so intrusive, although I will admit that these are probably a necessary evil (wet leaves are very slippery)
• The loud announcements over PA systems, especially at railway stations. Especially at New Street, where they are spaced less than 15 seconds apart.

I must conclude from this that I am not suitable for modern life. I was driven almost to distraction in the Folkestone branch of Asda by all of the noise I was subjected to – loud beeping from the floor cleaner, music over the PA system, an alarm constantly going off. It was horrible! I had been inclined to berate myself for my over-sensitivity to noise but the levels we are subjected to on a daily basis are intolerable. . It does make me feel stressed to wake up to the sound of the leaf strimmer, or to suffer through a train journey listening to someone’s mobile phone beeping and I am constantly amazed at (and envious of) the people who manage to be able to zone it out.

I think I should move on to something more positive now after that not-quite-rant. I had to rush out of the house this morning because, after having planned to work from home I discovered that our remote working system wasn’t working. I was feeling very tired and a bit stressed so I threw on an old (but comfortable) black dress and the black shoes Nic bought me a few months ago (the ones that prompted the extreme disgust of an elderly lady in Coventry marker) I don’t really like wearing black. I have a number of black dresses in the wardrobe, mostly quite formal ones. This one is fine, but I will wear something colourful tomorrow. But I had forgotten how much I love these shoes, so they have been making me feel cheerful all day. I am totally frivolous and, although I think I have a fairly rewarding inner life, my mood is definitely affected by extrinsic things like shoes and noise. The shoes are winning for now, though. And I’m going to get changed when I get home.

List of love
As mentioned - my shoes. Also, my new bag. I'm not ashamed to be happy about these material things.
Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction (A swan can break a man's arm, you know)
Halawi dates
Fry's Turkish Delight
Gherkins
Bertram Wooster
The last in the current series of New Tricks. Written by Roy Mitchell and a big improvement on the rest of the series.
Pickled onions
Bumerang (thanks C x)
Monica Dickens

List of loathe
IT issues, as always

Well, I'll tell you something that should be of vital interest to you. That you, Sir, are a NITWIT!

It’s all quiet here today. I’m down in the London office, and our floor is almost completely empty post-move. It’s nice, but I am only just starting to get warmed up now after another chilly train journey down this morning. I’d like to say that I am using my quiet time completely productively, but I’m not quite. There’s still time, I suppose!

I’m feeling weirdly spaced out today. The torrential rain and wind last night stopped me from sleeping, or at least I think it did. I was all prepared to have to wear my wellies on the walk to the station this morning and pulled them out of the airing cupboard only to find when I looked out the window that the ground was dry. Not completely dry, but not flooded as I thought it would be. I’m wondering if maybe I just dreamed the storm, and dreamed not sleeping properly? In any case, I was quite glad not to have to wear my wellies because they would have looked rather strange with my lovely phase eight Bastile dress, in which M tells me I look like I belong in Bletchley Park. My wellies are great though, in fairness. They were very cheap, from PriceLess shoes or similar in Dover last summer and they are pink and flowery. They kept my feet warm and dry all last winter so I’m not maligning them in any way!

The cold and dismal weather yesterday got me thinking about my winter clothes again. I had to wear tights and boots for the first time in ages, and for the first time ever paired my grey Asturias dress with a long sleeved black top. I think that layering is something that looks good on other people but out of place on me, but it kept me warm. I have bought the same dress in pink jersey, and plan to dye it red next week so I will have a nice, bright winter dress.

I’ve been reading lots of blogs recently, in an attempt to decide if I want this one to have a specific focus, and also just to get an idea of how I should write. It’s been really interesting and I have had lots of ideas. I think the main thing is that I want to develop my own voice, and I think that blogging would be a good way for me to do that. One of the blogs that I read frequently is very interesting, but the writing style always irritates me a little bit. The UK based writer is clearly a reader of a few of the American fashion blogs that I also read and enjoy, and has appropriated their style of writing. Maybe I should say that she shows a clear influence, which might be fairer. In any case, there is something about it that doesn’t sit right with me, and this has made me determined to have my own voice, however frivolous it might be.

That said, I am a bit of a magpie and will happily pick ideas from others. And on that note, I am taking an idea from the Second Hand Shopper, whose blog I have been enjoying recently. She has developed an admiration for the style of Bette Davis and is making an effort to adopt this into her wardrobe. So I am going to write a list of the women that I find stylish (although, unlike Second Hand Shopper, I am a bit too lazy to make any great changes to my wardrobe to model myself on them)

Myrna Loy

I was completely unaware of Myrna Loy until Nic and I fell in love, and he showed me the Thin Man films. I fell rather in love with Nora Charles, and with Myrna Loy. I love the way she carries herself. She's always dressed up to the nines in her movies, as stars were at the time. I like her quirky looks and expressive face. When I was a teenager reading the Anne books, this is how I imagined the adult Anne Shirley to look. And Myrna even had red hair! I also, somewhat strangely, like her arms. They are soft and rounded and lovely.

Katharine Hepburn

It's a bit too easy here to make a reference back to Audrey Hepburn because they have the same surname, but I'm going to do it anyway. Lots of fuss is made about the style of Audrey (and deservedly so) but I'll take K.Hepburn any day. Physically speaking we couldn't be more different, so I could never hope to emulate her style. And I can't say anything about her acting or looks or personality that hasn't already been said, so I'll just leave it at saying I think she is incredible.

Allison Janney

For my money, the best thing about The West Wing. She's got the same endearing, slightly goofy appeal as Myrna Loy, I think. But she is another impossibly tall woman who I could never attempt to emulate.

Tori Amos

Look, she's not looking so good these days - her hair seems to have been replaced by some mad Tyra Banks-style weave. And her music is passing me by nowadays as well, but a large part of my heart belongs to Tori Amos. She's who I wanted to be from the ages of 12-22, and I would still love to look how she does in this picture.

I could go on with some fictional women also, like Liz Shaw and Mary-Beth Lacey, but I'll save that for another day, I think.

Liz Shaw is completely brilliant, though. Look:

Cary Grant is my favourite. Rosalind Russell is my favourite. Jon Pertwee is my favourite.

I had a proper back-to-school feeling when I woke up this morning, and not in the nice new-stationery-and-shoes way either, it was more like I was moaning 'I don't want to go back to work!'

But go back to work I did, and it is lunchtime now. I'm taking a short break from working on another spreadsheet to write, and it is very nice to tear my eyes away from Excel, even for a short time!

I had a most enjoyable bank holiday weekend in Kent. The weather was beautiful and we were able to ramble around, sit on the beach and have a paddle in the sea. We were even able to have a fire on the beach and watch the local festival fireworks. What was especially good was not getting horribly sunburned, as I did last time I was in Kent. I did sustain a minor head injury, however, when I banged my head on the arm of the sofa (misjudging the distance when lying down) I now have a cartoon-style lump on the back of my head! Our journey back on the bank holiday was suitably horrendous - we were stuck on the train from Folkestone for well over 3 hours, most of that spent stationary on the track between Orpington and London Bridge while the police attempted to talk a suicidal man down from the gantry of the signal box. I'm not sure what happened there, in fact, as we were just told that the situation had been resolved. The windows on the train were locked shut and it quickly became intolerable on the train - hell really is other people, or more specifically, other people and their horrible spoiled screaming brats. I could rant on for some time also about the horrible spoiled mother (not the mother of the screaming brats, another one) who berated the poor refreshments trolley man for having run out of water and blamed him for the discomfort of her son. Actually, she was horrible when the train finally made it into Charing Cross as well, pushing through people at the ticket barrier and then whistling and shouting when she couldn't get past. Grrrr!!

That small discomfort aside, it really was a lovely weekend. We spent some time in Hythe, which was lovely. I'm not going to get into being negative again, but I suggest that if you are in the area that you avoid the Nutmeg Cafe on the High Street as only once in my life have I received such poor service. I had good fun browsing around the antiques stalls in the Malt House and was lucky enough to find some lovely items of Hornsea pottery. If I had been closer to home I would have bought the entire tea set but as I had to carry stuff back up to Leamington I contented myself with buying this:



And also one of these


Which now houses my tea bags (it says tea on it) I already have two of those jars, in the same green as the coffee pot, and have been looking out for Hornsea items ever since. I was pleased as could be with the coffee pot, however, as I have been on the hunt for one like it for ages now. I don't have the space in my little flat for a full collection of things like this, but it is nice to have little bits and pieces and I will be picking up more when I find it. I also quite liked the look of some Port Merion tableware too, but I already had more than I could comfortably carry!

The creative quarter in Folkestone was open this time - on our last visit we missed the opening days (most shops are only open at the end of the week) and I was finally able to visit Rennies, whose window I peered through for ages the last time I visited. I didn't buy anything, but certainly plan to. The shop is tiny, and the owner is so nice and friendly - I certainly recommend it!

The other thing I bought this weekend was that lovely Nica handbag. After the horrendous journey home yesterday I bought it for myself from the John Lewis website. It was £10 cheaper than direct from Nica, but I spotted it on eBay immediately after buying it. I've consoled myself with thinking that a)I'd have to wait for ages for the auction to end, b)I might not have saved that much money anyway and c)well, I can't really think of a c but I think I got it for a good price anyway!

I've also made a hair appointment - I think the front has finally grown long enough for me to go and have it bobbed again. I'm hoping that by this time tomorrow I will look a little like this:

I'm sure this is wishful thinking, but anyway - it will be good to have it looking in shape again!

List of love
My flat. I was so glad to get home last night!
The Gurkha Palace Nepalese restaurant, Sandgate
Having a fire on the beach
Tony Curtis Laserlight videos introductions
Adrian Mole
Pertwee. Always Pertwee.

List of loathe
Rude commuters
Rude, pushy parents
I have to say, I'm not so keen on The Strand
Nutmeg Cafe, Hythe. Bad, bad times.

Hey, Lieutenant. It's no good. It's not gonna work out. I just met this new guy...His attitude is all wrong. "How you doing?" That type of thing.

Between one thing and another, it has been a busy few weeks and I haven't been able to write as much or as often as I would like. As I have been sitting stagnating in front of a spreadsheet all day, tapping and clicking way, I thought that I would have to take a mental break and try to exercise my brain in a different way.

Work has been extremely busy as I've become involved in a big project that has a looming deadline. I have spent all of my work time recently analysing data and putting it into a huge spreadsheet and there is more of the same to come in the next couple of weeks. It's not too bad, and it's not as boring as I am making it sound. That said, I am looking forward to a nice long bank holiday weekend by the sea and some time to think and read and suchlike.

I have been knitting a fair old bit recently as well. The last time I was home my mum taught me a few basic stitches, and last week I got a 'simple knitting for dickheads' (or something like that) book out of the library to brush me up on the old stitches. I'm attempting to knit Nic a scarf to keep his neck warm when he is in Michigan in October. It's looking okay – I've been using a cartridge stitch, and although there are a few dropped stitches here and there I think it will look nice when it is finished. Knitting isn't as interesting as crochet, but I'm glad I can do both and it is very good to have something creative to do in the evenings, especially as work has had a strong admin focus recently. I don't think I'm ever going to be an expert at making and doing, but it is still good to make things. It makes me happy that Nic has been wearing the stripy scarf I crocheted for him last winter….maybe it is time to branch out a bit into some other forms of clothing!

Over the weekend I watched the video of my 6th form formal. I had never seen the video, I'm not sure why. It was a bit of an ordeal watching it – mainly because it was so long and had properly rubbish editing. That said, it was a lot of fun. It was nice to remember how many people from my year at school I actually did like (I'm quite negative and seem to only really have remembered the people that I didn't like) It was also very nostalgic to check out all of the bad early 2000s hair and makeup. I am on the video briefly, being interviewed on my way in by the BBC man who seemed intent on destroying everyone's good feelings about the night ("don't you think it's a lot of expense to go to, all for one night?" etc) I have to say, seeing myself aged 18 was a bit of a surprise. At that time, I suppose like most 18 year olds, I was so self-conscious. About my weight, my hair, my looks, my voice, everything. It was bittersweet to see myself then, because I was so pretty, and it makes me sad that I didn't know it at the time. And it was very sad because I have changed so much – well, it was 9 years ago! But watching it was good fun, in the main. It made me want to go out dancing again, so I’m making plans to do that on my birthday. It falls on a Friday this year, and the last birthday I can remember being on a Friday was my 17th (I’m sure there have been more in between) and that turned out to be full of dancing so I would like to replicate that.

List of love
The Harmony knitting stitches book I got out of the library. For real, it's really interesting.
The audiobook of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory that Nic bought me. It's read by James Bolam.
New Tricks Series 5 on DVD
Monica Dickens
The Sherlock Holmes board game
NYPD Blue
Nice plans for September

List of loathe
Air conditioning. The train the office are both freezing.
My hair. I need a haircut.

So, ah, Greg tells me you're gay now. How's that workin' out for you?

Writing about The Re-emergence of the Happy Movement

I enjoyed reading my old friend Adlina's thoughts about what her blog should contain. As I have moved away from my Myspace list-a-day type blog I have been thinking about this too. All of the blogs that I read frequently and admire manage to combine personal thoughts and reflections with writing about culture and pop-culture and ideas. Obviously this is what I'd like to emulate, but everyone needs to strike their own balance and I have been trying to figure out where my line falls. There have been a number of times when I have sat down to write something really personal and have stopped short because, although there are only a very few readers, I'm not sure how I feel about revealing myself in that way. I suppose I can always take down something or edit it if I feel I have strayed into too personal territory, but as I say, I need to figure out what exactly I constitute to be too personal.

Adlina writes:
I believe that all writers, bloggers or mainstream have to take time and think about the consequence of their written word – the pen is mightier than the sword.

This is a good rule to live by, I think, and one that doesn't necessarily come easily to me. Bad experiences with people in the past have taught me (frustratingly slowly, sometimes I think I am doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes) that it is as well not to be too open, both in person and in writing. It's a balance that I constantly struggle to strike in my everyday life as well, and not just with those people who were partly responsible for the bad experiences I have alluded to. Being too honest about my feelings to my friends has resulted in them being too honest too, leaving me feeling vulnerable and wounded. I don't think I want that level of exposure and risk in my blog.

With that said, though, what is the point of writing in a public way if I keep everything hidden? What am I writing for? Is it just shouting into the void? I think I need to examine my reasons for wanting to write and my expectations of what it will give me, and what I will get out of it.

Anyway, onto less ponderous subjects...

Yesterday evening Nic and I headed into Coventry after work. I had an appointment, and I met Nic in Whitefriars when I was done. We had a poke around Gosford Books and the owner was on rare form, even taking us outside to have a look at the archaeological dig that is going on in his back yard. I love Gosford Books, and I think that Leamington suffers from not having a good bookshop like it. I know we have a massive Waterstones (which, depressingly enough, has its own section devoted to Dan Brown) and Oxfam Books, but neither of those can do what a good second hand bookshop or independent bookseller can do, I think. I picked up another Patricia Highsmith (Ripley Under Water) and that Suspicions of Mr Whicher book, which I supsect will irritate me. Admittedly, I could have bought either of those in Oxfam but then I wouldn't have been able to have a discussion about mediaeval ruins!

List of love
Roddy Doyle - The Van, which was light relief after all of the murder and lying in the Ripley books
Batman: The Animated Adventures. This is even better than I remembered it being, much funnier, especially Mark Hamill as The Joker. I still think Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a better film than Batman Begins so I think I will watch it again soon.
Still loving NYPD Blue and the first season is much better than I thought it would be (I thought I wouldn't like it as much without Jimmy Smits) I especially like the interaction between Sipowicz and Donna, although it is limited. The best thing, though, is definitely Nicholas Turturro. He is brilliant, and that's not me being in any way ironic.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is still all kinds of awesome.
This bag, which I will be buying when I get paid: (The Nica Berrie bag in Damson)


Fever Asturias dress in red - with black knee-high boots and my red hat. Planning my winter wardrobe already, how sad?!

List of loathe
Nothing especially at the moment, I'm feeling quite mellow at the moment. I have some underlying sources of irritation (I think it is territorial angst) but all in all, I'm feeling pretty chipper.

You know, it's a shame there's no ambo-jitsu ring nearby

Well, I'm still no nearer to achieving my plan of writing a blog about New Tricks, although the most recent episode was very good, so I'm feeling hopeful that it's getting back into its stride. That's planned for the future though.

Technology has not been my friend of late. Our television set died last week. Considering we bought it for £25 in the tip shop (I love the tip shop) I think its 11 month life-span isn't so bad. Nic managed to find a replacement for us in Leamington Furnishers for a similar price so all is good, or it should have been – this television set has an unusual approach to colour, and shifts its colour settings by itself, and with irritating frequency. Still, it’s better than what we had, and certainly better than buying a new one and having the TV licence people annoying us (our set acts just as a monitor, we don't have it connected up to receive a signal). The power supply for my work laptop went missing (stolen from my desk) so I am awaiting a new one, and the power supply for my Mac died also, and I think I am going to have to wait rather longer for its replacement to arrive. I'm just waiting now for the other shoe to drop and for something like the shower or the fridge to pack up as well.

All of that has been a minor irritant, and contributing to an underlying anxiety I have been feeling recently. I'm having odd little palpitations again and can't pinpoint a reason for it. It's only been a handful of weeks since Nic and I had a holiday and I feel I am in need of one again! I've been watching Gary Lineker and his fiancée Danielle on their road trip of Northern Ireland on the BBC iplayer and feeling like I need to go home soon, if only for a long weekend. It strikes me as rather a pity that the programme isn't being screened over here, it certainly shows up the beauty of the Northern Irish countryside, even if old Gary and Danielle aren’t the most charismatic of presenters. They haven't visited Tyrone yet (next episode is County Down) and of course I am curious to see what places they have picked out from my home county. I doubt that there's much in Fungannon that would make the cut!

Watching anything set in, filmed in, or about Northern Ireland always makes me feel a bit homesick and emotional. I can't imagine moving home, at least not in the near future, but it does make me sad to think that it’s not really home any more. Just in the way that change makes you feel melancholy, you know, even if it is change for the better. Friday night's episode was about County Derry and Gary and Danielle stayed in a guest house in Magherafelt, which is where my erstwhile paramour comes from. Breaking up with him earned me a Magherafelt ASBO so I haven’t been back since. It's out of the way for me when I go home, and the only reason I ever spent any time there in the past was him, so it was strange and emotional to see it on the TV. I don’t miss him and I don’t miss the relationship (and I certainly don't miss the people who bestowed the ASBO on me) but it made me sort of miss the person I was then. It was a strange sort of grief, which is the emotion I am coming to most strongly associate home with.

Well, that all got a bit heavy! On to other things! Due to the wet weekend and just general feelings of grottiness, Nic and I watched have watched lots of DVDs. We bought the Julia Davis series Nighty Night, which neither of us had seen when it was on the TV. Watching all 6 episodes in one day will give you nightmares. We also watched lots of Pertwee-era Who, which is great fun. on the timetable for this week is some Inspector Morse, NYPD Blue and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Life is good

List of love
Julia Davis. New girl-crush.
Will Riker. He's no Picard, but he is much funnier.
The Somerville Arms.
Lewis...I haven't seen his spin-off but I'm enjoying him in Morse
The man in the branch of Timpsons on Regent Street, for fixing up my Kurt Geiger Camara shoes so brilliantly, and for having a nice accent.
Ambo-jitsu
Dr Pulaski's special cake ingredient.
Aileen - she has brought the formal video home!

List of loathe
Having to use my work laptop all the time. I hope my new power supply arrives soon.
Weather and trains, again.