achievement

today i ran.

due in no part to public transport, officers of the law or life-defending escapades involving the elderly on zebra crossings.

no, i just ran.

don't watch this space. i think the fascination with exercise will fizzle out when i clock the fact that i'm not losing several pounds simply by virtue of wearing trainers.

zoo

Took the lad to his favourite place on earth yesterday. Turning the car engine off is like firing a starting gun at the beginning of the race for him. The uber cool long haired drumming skate dude with an attitude to match anyone's, turns puppy at the sight of furry critters.
Ring-tailed lemurs, bears,birds, zebras, baby giraffes, lions and tigers and camels (brown ale and sandwiches too?)
But the piece de resistance was, of course, the penguin pool. We got there for feeding time and I had to take photo after photo for him to print off and stick on his wall when we get home.

A pricey day out but it was the last day of Easter hols and I still maintain that a lemur would make a great pet!

mind twister

http://flash.qbol.net/pl;p/youxi/images/04042203.swf

See if you can do this and not tear your hair out. Apparantly there are 13 items and only a handful of very intelligent people can find them all.

Punctured but not deflated.

Had another piercing today. My first experience with a needle rather than a gun and I can't believe how little it hurt. I have a hoop and ball at the top of my right ear. And then there were six!

to bed, perchance to sleep

Last night I woke up at 3 and lay awake for two hours, woke at 6 lay awake for an hour. The night before I woke at 5 and didn't sleep properly again. This has been going on for a week or two now. You judge how pleasant it is to have my company at the moment.

Don't mention...

I struck up a deal with a colleague. I will bake her bread and she will fill in the gaps of my film knowledge by lending me videos and dvd's. I have a breadmaker, she has the movies. I got pretty hammered on Friday night after work and I have no idea where the bag with the films has gone.

Calvin woz ere?

http://groups.msn.com/clickclicktherapy/town.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=506

belle-textes

If you thought texting had killed off the art of letter writing read this one I picked up this morning;

"I see you're now a published literary critic! I, on the other hand, am a dilettante academic-cum-playwright manque. I must start writing DRAMA soon; the warm ink of my imagination is beginning to flow. Two unwritten essays are all that stand in my way. Oh! the frailty (and loneliness) of megalomania."

making a kil'n

What a fab night last night. Went to 'The Kiln' which is a very groovy place I shall be frequenting again. Told someone earlier in the day I was going out and they laughed at me when they realised it was about pottery and not a club. Ya boo. You choose from a stash of blank pottery pieces, they give you all the paints and brushes and sponges, you paint it, they glaze it, you collect it a week later. I chose a fairly simple plate over the triangular tea pots, noodle bowls and chickens (yeah, quite) 'cos it could get really pricey. It was such fun. So was getting drunk afterwards and collapsing at a friends house and sliding around her living room floor on my back.

livin' it up

Today's high point was a cheese scone from Mark's and Sparks. Whether you pronounce 'scone' correctly, like me, or incorrectly, an M&S cheese scone takes some beating. Although competition was conspicuously absent today. Take the St Michael's challenge soon. Satisfaction guaranteed!

annual review

It's always nice when you ask your boss what he thinks your weaknesses are and he furrows his brow, scans the ceiling and begins; 'Umm...'

link for A as promised

http://www.palimpsest.org.uk/

partay

Went to a splendid party this afternoon. Was sorry I couldn't stay longer but had some family stuff that needed doing. (yawn yawn)

Think I'll sit and watch a film this evening as I have no stomach for 'Crime and Punishment' right now.

lost count

had an inordinate amount of jd&coke tonight that i presume must have been watered down as i feel stone cold sober still. heard three live bands at esquires. got home at half one only to discover it's half two. happy easter and happy british summer time.

29. All Families are Psychotic.

I am blind to the faults of Dougie and frankly the man makes me feel great about my personal life. (see title) Yup, Coupland pulls it off again. A corker about a bunch of nuts that you end up feeling at one with in a quirky kind of way. Unusual ending, typical of his style that definitely calls for suspension of disbelief for the greater good of making a worthwhile point but without sounding preachy. Top notch.

a good friday

Had an hours recreational skiing at the snow dome, ate a mixed grill, watched a film then went and chilled out with friends who live on a boat. Pretty cool day.

My action-packed life.

Have had the dullest two days on record. Made numerous blu-tac snakes (one complete with forked elastic band tongue) so it hasn't been entirely unproductive.

28. Milk Treading.

Milk Treading by Nick Smith.

A rather unusual book to say the least! This is about class struggle, gang warfare, hack writers, journalists and lovers. Only, all the characters are cats or dogs. It works pretty well with a stack of witty kitty puns. My main concern was that the book was shot with typographical errors which was very offputting. A quick, easy, fun read but not something I'll be telling everyone to run out and buy.

Reading list.

Here are the books I have read so far in 2005. I included audio for the hell of it. Thought I might as well share it here and will try and keep something posted on books I read from now on.

28: Milk Treading. Nick Smith.
27: Tobias and the Angel. James Bridie.
26: Love on the Dole (dramatic adaptation) Ronald Gow & Walter Greenwood.
25: The Orange Girl. Jostein Gaarder.
24: Down Under. (audio) Bill Bryson.
23: Maus. Art Spiegelman
22: Crime and Punishment. Dost. (current)
21: Dream Play. August Strindberg.
20: Notes from a Small Island (audio) Bill Bryson.
19: Portugese Irregular Verbs (audio) Alexander McCall Smith (see review)
18: Saturday Ian McEwan
17: A Short History of Nearly Everything.(audio) Bill Bryson.
16: A Tale of Two Cities. audio. Charles Dickens.
15: Not the End of the World. Geraldine McCaughrean
14: Master and Commander (audio) Patrick O'Brian
13: Persuasion (audio) Jane Austen.
12: Boy Soldier (proof) Andy McNab & Robert Rigby
11: Bras & Broomsticks. (proof) Sarah Mlynowski
10: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part II(audio). Bert Coules
9: Lord Loss (proof) Darren Shan.
8: David Copperfield.(audio) Charles Dickens.
7: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (audio) Alexander McCall Smith
6: Miss Julia. August Strindberg
5: The Philosopher's Pupil. Iris Murdoch
4: Hawksmoor. Peter Ackroyd (abandoned)
3: The Road to Damascus.Part I August Strindberg
2: The Timewaster Letters. Robin Cooper.
1: Shadow of the Wind. Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

london town

Saw Ruby Wax in The Witches this afternoon. Very west end, very panto. Pretty good fun nonetheless. Ben & Jerry's ice cream and a wander round Covent Garden afterwards. Not a bad Sunday afternoon out with the lad.