A Right Mixed Bag

Today would have been my Dad's 62nd birthday; it is also exactly 7 months since he died. Neither a major milestone, nor particularly emotional events; but both are things which prompt a little reflection.

Overall a very mixed week. I've been working on some accounts which refuse to give the 'right' bottom line; I think I've possibly tarnished a friendship; there appears to be some sort of problem with the sale of the family house; and I'd like to be in two places at same time, not once but twice, tomorrow. All grist in the mill of life!!

However, there has also been some beautiful things - such as catching up with some friends over a meal. Plus Radio 4 is doing away with 'UK theme' - if you're an insomniac this is the annoying tune that heralds the start of the Radio 4 day at 5.30 every morning. I'll be glad to see the back of it - if only they'll get rid of 'Sailing By' as well. As I say, a mixed week......

The real highlight is that I'm off on holiday tomorrow - a week in the mountains pretending to ski. Looking forward to it - a chance for some space, some fresh air and to relax the mind, if not the body!

This also means that there won't be an update on the blog for a week - I can sense your relief!

Gimme a........

In the past 24 hours I've been described as "talented" and "not looking as round as you normally do". Both by the same person and both, I think, were compliments.

I also came across the following phrase in a book, "You need to be your own cheerleader." So, always willing to try something new, here goes;

....Gimme a S.....
....Gimme a M.....
etc. etc.

Go Smitty!!!

Mmmh, feel *so* much better.

Fluff Bucket

Got a lovely thank you note in the post this morning in which I was described as a 'fluff bucket'.

Made me smile - thank you.

Really??

Today a whale was swimming in the Thames near where I work.

The BBC website said that it looks as though it had swam off course......

Pointless stuff I own

My fruitbowl for starters. Don't get me wrong, on high days and holidays I'll dabble with fruit - no fruitist behaviour here. However, the actual percentage of time my fruit bowl is used for its designed purpose is pretty minmal. As Eddie Izzard said, you'll buy fruit, put it in the bowl and just watch it rot - often whilst eating a Mars Bar.

I also own a unicycle....don't ask. Percentage of time used as a unicycle so far....0%. Percentage of time used as some sort of modern art installation....100%. The instructions for its use are;

1. Squeeze the saddle between your legs.
2. Place your foot on the pedal facing the rear. Press your hips against the saddleand quickly place the other leg on the other pedal.
3. Start pedalling immediately.

Mmmh..... I sense an impending and embarassing conversation at A&E attempting to explain a bizarre injury. Don't think the opening phrase "when I was attempting to unicycle..." would elicit much sympathy.

Minor rant - noticed tonight that Tescos are now selling Easter Eggs - must check diary but I thought it was still January.

"Life is a rollercoaster....."

You'll probably have that song in your head now...my work is done. Forgive another reflective post - not what I intended when I commenced blogging - fear not, the 'funnies' will return.

I've no idea what a 'normal' weekend is, particularly a Saturday. From mid-Oct I had various things - some social! - and didn't have free Saturdays - quite enjoyable. This Sat was back to Birmingham to go through the final things left in the family house, stuff I might be interested in. I've found these occasions a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. There is the 2 hour drive each way alone with my thoughts (many of you will know that may not be the most cheerful of places!). What will I find? Will it bring joy or sadness? A bit of a hoarder by nature, will I be able to bring myself to throw stuff away? Additionally, with the family home in the process of being sold, this could be the final time I'd be at the house I'd grown up in.

Though a mixed day, overall it was OK. Mum fund various stuff relating to the time spent in Africa - including the cards I got for my first birthday - so was quite happy. Me? I ploughed through various old toys and books from when I was a kid. Mostly junk - with 3 trips to the local council dump - I did manage to retreive the following;
....a Sinclair Spectrum + computer - wonder if it still works...
....a Kodak slide projector - a lot of family snaps are on slides...
....various annuals from the 70s & 80s - Blue Peter, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Ivor the Engine, Roy of the Rovers, Mary, Mungo and Midge, Parsley & the Herbs, Look-in....
....a wooden elephant...
....a couple of sets of FuzzyFelt...
....Starsky & Hutch and Neighbours board games...

My garage is now like the storage area for the conveyor belt round of the Generation Game in the early 80s....

My "career"

I've been filling in an application form for a 'leadership programme' which has been recommended to me. I have no idea if I'll get on it, but I've managed to describe my entire career to date in 106 words. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing......

I've also used the following phrase;
..."[I hope] to become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses regarding possible future leadership contexts"...

I feel so ashamed. And no, I've no idea what it means either.

Look, I’ve already admitted it…..

Previously I’ve admitted, very publicly, that I take a guilty pleasures in some television programmes. Well the OC is back on E4 - a ray of Californian sunshine in the gloomy British winter - although it’s not quite the same now that ‘Jim Robinson’ has died.

A guilty pleasure admittedly, but it’s sassy, witty, has some great one liners, is completely detached from reality and, in Peter Gallagher, it has the finest set of eyebrows outside of Denis Healey or the Archbishop of Canterbury.

What can British TV offer? Hollyoaks?

T is for Tambourine

During a church service I went to yesterday there was what I can only describe as a "premeditated tambourine related incident".

The only slight positive was that neither ribbons nor tassels were involved.

And things seemed to be going so well.....

Weird Weekend

Not along the lines of Louis Theroux spending it with the Hamiltons or some bizarre sect in the deep south of the USA - just a slightly strange weekend for me. I’d deliberately kept it free ‘just in case‘ and I’m still not 100% after being ill at Christmas. However, in the end I had nothing to do this weekend - zip, zilch, nada, nowt. Following the Christmas and New Year whirl, plus the November and December busyness, it was a very weird feeling - just me, myself and my flat for 48 hours - v. scary. OK, I had stuff to do - attempt to sort out the junk in my garage or clean the fridge freezer - but surprisingly these didn’t appeal as exciting weekend distractions!

Will this be the pattern for 2006? Hope not - I like/need to do ‘things’ - but the diary is a little bare; a skiing trip, a wedding in March, and somewhat bizarrely, the Bon Jovi concert at the new Wembley (don’t ask….). I knew 2006 would be different, but I’m not sure this is what I had in mind. So what did I do? Well, thank God for BBC7 - fast becoming my favourite radio station - which had a 3 hour tribute to Ronnie Barker on Saturday morning. So I listened to that and pottered around. Then, with the rest of the day ahead, figured it was time for watching some cowboy on cowboy lovin’.

Brokeback Mountain is an absorbing film - beautifully shot, stunning scenery, well acted and great moustaches. Some Ang Lee films, particularly Sense and Sensibility and To Ride with the Devil, I really like and this new one is well worth watching. However, it’s also very sad - not a film to see if you want some light comedy or cheering up - you have been warned. I also found myself thinking,
…isn’t that the nurse from ER, the one whose with Luka?
…blimey, Jen from Dawson’s Creek ain’t half changed…..

Why I Heart London

Bought Time Out this week. First time I've bought it for ages - who has time to read it and go out? They list 101 things that make London great, my favourites are;
....pub dogs....
....seeing skate kids fall over on the South Bank....
....Churches with names like St Andrew's-by-the-Wardrobe....

On the way home tonight was another reason I like London. A bloke was cycling home by County Hall - speeding along complete with jacket and rucksack. He was on a large unicycle. No one batted an eyelid.

Sordid Confession.........part 2

Hope that you had a good Christmas and New Year. Mine has been OK but I've been ill since Boxing Day so much of the past week has been spent in bed or on various sofas coughing and spluttering. This has led to me discoverings things I feel, in the spirit of being more open in 2006, I can now confess to the wider group. You have been warned!

Firstly, I took some cough mixture the other day having been warned it was disgusting. Problem is I quite liked it! It now appears that I've turned into such a lush that I enjoy cough mixture. Am I one step away from meths and aftershave?.?.?

Secondly - and you understand that I've been ill, had time on my hands, it was half price in the sale, and I'm only doing it for research purposes - I've been reading Jane Austen's Guide to Dating. It's been one of the sleeper hit books of the winter and, frankly, I need all the help I can get. It's a fascinating read, very entertaining and has confirmed one key thing - when to comes to these things I am completely clueless (film ref for the anoraks....).

Now, about this being more open............