happy tired!

well, it's been a lovely couple of days.

had my liver scan, which the doctor said was fine, and been to two of the pubs on my list. The Harp was a bit rubbish and far too near to the Chandos for me ever to go there again, but The Ship and Shovell was great. Small, friendly and comfortable - will def. be going again!

have just watched America's Sweethearts which is a rubbish rom-com, but one that I love!

tomorrow I'm meeting up with M&D and then back for my blood tests (or bloodletting as my mum called it) and then a nice, quite afternoon and evening before heading to Camden to try Fifty-Five on Thursday afternoon.

hey - I think I'm getting into the swing of this not-being-at-work-thing. Now all I have to do is to be well enough not to need a minimum of 12hrs sleep and then hopefully I can start thinking about work - yay!

well, I should be in bed...

... and am going now, but have been doing some research on new bars and pubs to try!

I've found a fair few that sound interesting, all with easy bus/walk routes. So, next week I'll be trying:

sunday: The Harp, Covent Garden
tuesday: The Ship and Shovell, Strand
thursday: Fifty Five, Camden
friday: Cork & Bottle, Westbourne Grove
saturday: The Lamb, Bloomsbury

nothing on Monday (as I've got my liver scan at 4.15pm and I have to fast for 6 hours beforehand) or Wednesday (meeting up with M&D somewhere in town).

and all of this should be a good thing for the long run as, although I love the Chandos and Kettners, a girl really should have more than 2 bars that she likes in a city as big as London!

good pottering!

well, I've had two days of pottering so far and have happily sat in both the Chandos and the Jack Horner. Both have been good days and have left me quite exhausted, but in a kind of good way!

I think a chinese takeaway in front of American Idol is in order, and then bed!

can't stop the signal...

... just had a lovely evening with Dunc, the last part of which was taken up by watching the beginning of firefly. We watched the pilot and then Dunc asked "can we just watch the next one..."

ah Ha - another convert - Yay!

new plan...

... I have been meaning to go for a walk each day this week, but haven't due to either feeling too ill and feverish, or just too lazy.

whilst talking to Adam about this, he came up with a fab plan: Each day I shall go into town somewhere and sit in a cafe/pub and read a book. I can do any combination of walking / bus-ing for both outward and return journey. This has multiple benefits - I get to go somewhere other than the flat, I get to do some exercise each day (even if it is just a ten minute walk), and I get to remember that I live in London (which I love).

we then got on to reading materials, and I mentioned that I've just started HP4. This led to a very apt name for my walk/read each day - Pottering!

so tomorrow, I shall go for a potter, and am very much looking forward to it!

also - Dunc is on his way over and he's bringing a chinese takeaway with him - what a star that man is!

my body is punishing me...

... for having thoughts about working. Managed to drag myself out of bed this morning with a fever. Was just about to get into shower when the doctor's surgery rang to say that the nurse doing my blood tests was ill and so we re-arranged. I went back to bed, managed to get up at about 11am, doze on the sofa, where I have spent the rest of the day, alternating between too hot and too cold.

hopefully tomorrow will be better...

quite a good day!

that NightNurse the other day was a good idea - yesterday and today have been much better on the whole illness front - still knackered, but far fewer aches and pains, so a step or two in the right direction!

tomorrow is the day when I think they're going to have to take about half my blood - am having about a gazillion different blood tests, but it's actually quite good. If my liver has improved (hope, hope, hope) and everything else is clear, then I can get a referral to the King's Chronic Fatigue Clinic. No idea at all what they do there, but it's got to be better then not doing anything, which is the current plan (however lovely GPs are, when it comes to things like CF, they don't really have anything they can do).

am also starting to think about trying some work. This is really good, as it has been months since I've even felt like trying to think about it! I don't think I'm going to be able to do any paid work for now, but hopefully one of my old clients might let me do a couple of half days for free! If they don't, I might have start calling people I know and seeing if they'd like an office junior for an afternoon - I just need to know how knackering I'm going to find the whole work thing. If it only wipes me out for a couple of days, I might be able to get a proper freelance client that I could work for 2 days a week, and then just sleep for the rest of the time...

also finished Harry Potter 4 today - am really enjoying re-reading and really looking forward to when the last book comes out... soooo many questions need answers!

I'm going to put all my faith in...

... night nurse! I'm finally paying for the lovely time earlier this week - am completely broken again - headache, knackered and head ache. Slept in until 1pm ish and then spent the rest of the day on the sofa under a duvet.

hopefully after a large swig of NN, I'll feel better (ish) tomorrow...

damn the interweb...

... I should be in bed! I stupidly thought "oh, I wonder if there are any new rumours about Harry Potter 7" about two hours ago.

found this great site called MuggleNet and, in particular, this page which lists essays arguing for and against popular theories for book 7.

really worth a read if you're interested in HP and have a spare hour or so (or are at work and should be doing something far more important, but have got procrastination down to a fine art!).

update: ok - am actually going to bed now (1am...)

followed the rules!

well - I managed to follow the rules today - I've sat on a sofa and watched telly - and that's about it. I plan on doing the same tomorrow.

am watching Big Love at the moment on Five Life. It's actually quite good - very shiny and american, but that's no bad thing - I think I'll move on to Project Catwalk (ultimate guilty telly).

then bed - quite tired.

well - not quite as bad as I'd thought...

... on some levels, today has been fine and I haven't struggled too much after having over-done it yesterday:

• managed to get up by 8.30 to get my delivery from Argos (new ironing board and iron)

• am still awake (albeit soon to bed) and it's nearly 11pm

on other levels, there are clear signs that I must not do anything that requires a brain (run with scissors, that kind of thing) for a few days yet:

• failed to make peppermint creams properly - I know - it's just egg whites, icing sugar and peppermint essence - but I failed to get the ratios right - it's currently a sticky goo that I hope will set at somepoint

• failed to boil chick-peas - I know - another very simple task - I did well with the vigorous boiling for 15 mins. and the next bit - the simmering for an hour. this is where I came unstuck. They weren't done, so I needed to boil them for, say, another half hour. This sound simple, but the reality is, quite predictably, that having watched the time so carefully up to this point, I completely forgot about it for 3 hours. Yup - burnt chick-peas, burnt beautiful-new-big-shiny-soup-pot (which I may have to re-buy as I think that I burnt through the protective layer at the bottom), and a kitchen full of smoke...

well - am going to go and have a shower (a tip from Sian to get a good night's sleep) and then go to bed.

tomorrow, I will not allow myself to do anything more strenuous than sitting on the sofa and watching telly (ok - maybe a bit of civ2).

Also - happy valentines day to all those partaking in it, and a happy "bollocks to this crap, day" for everyone else!

what a lovely day!

doctor's this morning (not the lovely bit!) and am now scheduled for even more tests over the next couple of weeks - oh well - I should find out more in about a month.

next went to the Science Museum with M&D and my two lovely nephews. Lots of playing and generally, a lovely time.

rest time - I was feeling quite weak from the earlier. I read the end of the third Harry Potter.

at about 5.30pm, got a call from Anni who was walking home from work (she's just moved into a flat by Fenchurch Street). She invited me over. Got a cab there and back (about 10mins each way - yay!) and had a lovely evening.

am now listening to Songs for Swinging Lovers by Sinatra. Perfect.

going to bed now - and when I wake up, I will get delivery of the things I ordered over the weekend, and a Sainsburys order which includes icing sugar, eggs and peppermint essence. This means one thing - peppermint creams - double yay!

I'm sure I'm going to pay for all of this activity, but right now I don't care.

tories threat to London's free bus and tram travel for under 18s

tomorrow is the final budget-setting meeting of the London Assembly and the Tory group are pushing to scrap the free travel for under 18s. There is an online petition if you wish to oppose this motion here. None of the the fields are mandatory, so it's not just a cynical data-capture exercise.

oh dear...

... yesterday was great - ate healthily, did some cross-stitch and did an hour of pilates... all good.

today - urgggh. am knackered, my shoulders hurt and have a head ache.

I think a chinese take-away and bed is in order!

reminder...

... interweb + after midnight = spending money

oh well - at least I have packages to look forward to in the post - shiny!

bed now...

Obama 2008

"...in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union."

It's like the West Wing, but in real life!

the full text of the speech is here.

a nice week

well, it's off to bed now, and I've managed nearly the whole week on GMT - I think I've finally cracked the insomnia - yay! (although, as the curse of Murray Walker is with us all, that was probably a really stupid thing to say...).

I've been listening to the radio and learning how to cross-stitch, so not a very demanding week but, all in all, quite a good one.

I'm going to try for pilates tomorrow, dependent on getting a good night's sleep tonight and then more rest until the seeing the doctor on Tuesday - she's trying to refer me to the King's Chronic Fatigue Clinic.

btw - have just watched Room 101 - Paul Merton's last ever one, with Ian Hislop as guest - very funny and worth watching the repeat if you missed it.

celebrity car crash continues....

Anna Nicole Smith has died... no news yet on what the cause is.

Both People Magazine and The Washington Post have covered it...

tee hee!

just watched The Show which is very worth a watch, and it also reminded me of my favourite sinfest.

grrr.. I've tried to paste the image in to the blog, but it's coming up too small, so to see it in all its glory, click here!

for those currently annoyed with work...

... a reminder from the lovely Quote of The Day people that this is why:

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. "

- Peter Drucker


In other news, I had my second GMT day today - yay!

Steve Jobs talking about DRM

from BB, here is a really interesting article.

a normal day!

wow - I went to bed at 9pm last night and was asleep by half-past! I then got up at 8.30am this morning... not quite sure what to do with all this time! I've cleaned the kitchen and tidied the rest of the flat and am now just listening to Radio4.

Am very tired and want to have a nap, but I know that it's not allowed until I've had a few days on UK time, so I think that rubbish telly and Civ2 is in order.

time zone...

... mmm... not sure which time zone I'm in, but I slept between 6am and 7pm...

Monty Python and the....

... dalek

... Star Trek

genius, courtesy of BB.

oh dear

I've just watched Davina McCall on Room 101. I thought that I liked her, but she's really rubbish - she hardly has a personality, and what she has, is annoying.

I always assumed she was bit like Claudia Winkleman, who is just the most fab person in the whole wide world, but she's not at all.

ads...

... "your chopping board has more bacteria on it then your toilet seat". Yes - so does your stomach - quick make sure you don't let that cleaning product near a yogurt...

... "less than 70 calories per bar". FEWER - IT'S REALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT.

OK - vented now.

cake success!

yay! after a couple of failed attempts to make cake-like things, I've finally succeeded! I decided to go with a recommended recipe and am now eating a yummy almond cake (from Jules' friend Jessica), which is still warm!

mmm... coffee

well - I haven't been getting up at 8.30am, but I have been getting up before my body is ready. Coffee is key, Coffee is God, Coffee is yummy. All good.

things to look forward to

I've just realised that I've got quite a lot of cool things coming up soon, so am feeling quite happy and hopefully will go to sleep soon!

Vic has emailed about Richard Schiff (Toby from WestWing) doing a one-man show that she's getting tickets for - yay! Last year we went to see Rob Lowe in A Few Good Men, so now all we have to do is see CJ or Josh in anything for the complete set!

Adam sent me the most beautiful Moleskine London Notebook which I'm going to use this year and try and fill it up. It has an AtoZ and loads of sections to fill in, including "places, dreams, adventures" and "bars, wineries, stories". I'm really looking forward to getting better and going and trying lots of new places in London, just to note down my thoughts about them!

Having sorted out all of my books, I realised that I'd lost a couple over the years. One was a Joel Rosenberg book which has been out of print for years. I'd had a real hassle buying it the first time (I spent months tracking down a copy and finally managed to get one sent from a second-hand book shop in the US). Now, everything is different - typed it into Amazon and found about 50 market-place sellers who all had it - another yay! It should be arriving in a day or so.

Having seen Patrick Stewart in the RSC version of Anthony and Cleopatra, we're now going to see him again in The Tempest in March. This will also double as a Jude-going-on-maternity-leave celebration.

I've got a ZeFrank yoga top arriving - one of the "Thinking so you don't have to" ones - this might take a while as coming from the US, but very exciting - they had a January sale, so it was really cheap and shipping was free!

Following Sian's recommendation of Bones - I'm now downloading Season 1, so when it's done (it reckons 12 days at the moment), I shall have much to watch.

I should be meeting up with Dunc and Mel in the next few weeks which is lovely. Mel wants to start her Buffy education and Dunc has just finished Season 5. When that's done, I think I'll start pushing Firefly!

I'm also going to try and go to pilates again on Saturday, and hope that it doesn't wipe me out quite as much as last time.

Now all I have to do is get properly better, but as I'm being reminded, little steps are good!

BBC download plans approved...

... on one hand yay! The BBC Trust have approved allowing BBC programmes to be downloaded on line...

... one the other hand boo! Only time-limited DRM files will be available. This is a change for the beeb who have been fab with their podcasting initiatives to date.

One of the Trustees was quoted as saying that the Board "could still change its mind if there was public outcry...".

There is currently a public consultation with a short questionnaire, so if you think that the beeb should not be going down the the DRM route, then fill it in!