tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57248562009-11-13T13:50:40.460Zwhen you're a kid it's all "grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid" and that's it. the truth is the world is so much stranger than that. so much darker, and so much madder. and so much better.catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.comBlogger366125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-16552516439154174372009-11-07T09:42:00.000Z2009-11-07T09:45:34.494Z

i think i must officially be a grown up. for what other reason would i have voluntarily got out of bed at 7 am on a saturday morning for no reason other than being awake? i mean, it's not like i had a plane to catch or small children to wrangle.still, if it means i get round to the bakery in time to purchase some of the most delicious cinnamon tea loaf known to man (tm), i don't mind too much.

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-33031243510249444852009-09-12T23:24:00.000+01:002009-09-12T23:25:05.711+01:00

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-34628521053871454652009-09-05T10:31:00.003+01:002009-09-05T10:43:45.720+01:00

it's a constant struggle for me to fight against my natural inclinations towards sloth and ice cream and guide myself instead towards veges and exercise. for a year or so running captured my interest and enthusiasm enough that i did it on a regular basis without any struggles and felt great.but a combination of the novelty wearing off, being sick of avoiding unhealthy foods altogether and

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-57668154638494669492009-08-30T19:56:00.003+01:002009-08-30T20:01:53.419+01:00

Queen of the road: fergie and her humps;Originally uploaded by esther p. as esther said, "to fergie, queen of the road. may your humps be ever roomy, your consumption cured and both eyes rested as you pasture on the car farm in the sky." many miles travelled, many adventures undertaken, many memories forged...it's been a good journey.

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-84049058242825862752009-07-20T22:16:00.002+01:002009-07-20T22:20:11.081+01:00

today on yahoo, swine flu is only number six in the list of top ten searches. it trails in behind harry potter, michael jackson, madonna, orlando bloom, and david beckham.it's good to know that the british people don't get distracted from the important things in life by such small things as potential epidemics (despite the best efforts of the media to stir up panic in all directions).

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-89993365925134696802009-07-12T00:10:00.002+01:002009-07-12T00:17:17.632+01:00

i've been thinking a lot about travelling lately, just taking off with a rucksack and an open-ended plane ticket and seeing where i end up. the months i spent in my mid-twenties doing just that (almost five years ago now, frighteningly) were among the most challenging and enjoyable and hardest and best of my life.i don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking about "that time i went

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-74926815232580219462009-06-29T10:40:00.004+01:002009-06-29T10:45:19.098+01:00

a 17 hour day + decaffeinated coffee + a longish church service = very long blinks merging together into me almost nodding off. i knew it was bad when i had to raid the nef's supply of malteasers in the hope that the sugar kick would keep me going till lunchtime.i had no idea i was such a caffeine junkie - i normally only have one coffee a day, but not having that coffee? that makes a heck of a

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-24165078811712609522009-05-05T23:00:00.001+01:002009-05-06T00:14:43.203+01:00

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-36597114539103850402009-04-29T23:33:00.002+01:002009-04-29T23:36:33.804+01:00

i'm getting a little freaked out these days by the recent innovation on google whereby it predicts what you are searching for. it feels like another step in the slippery slope towards a.i. and the next thing you know we'll be living in giant techno pea pods, completely hairless and plugged into the matrix.or maybe i'm just over-reacting.

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-83117892651897797442009-04-11T11:56:00.002+01:002009-04-11T12:02:03.347+01:00

i'm easing into the long weekend with great pleasure, knowing that sunday night will be gloriously free of that songs-of-praise-moment. a late night over dinner with friends, a luxurious lie-in (only till nine o'clock but that's late for me these days), a quick shred and now a leisurely cup of coffee, enjoyed with a proper old-school shuffle on the ipod.the four days stretch ahead of me full of

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-66372705494323513022009-03-30T23:08:00.004+01:002009-03-30T23:17:30.862+01:00

i've been doing the 30 day shred for a grand total of two days now, and already i can barely walk downstairs. i feel like an old lady, hobbling up and down helping myself along with the handrail. i'm hoping that this is one of those "gets worse before it gets better" things. because if it doesn't get better i'm going to have to phone into work to tell them that i'm sorry i can't come in, but i

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-89129002441170231332009-03-26T21:37:00.001Z2009-03-26T21:40:59.247Z

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-29259143623316968582009-03-19T13:57:00.003Z2009-03-19T14:00:22.336Z

so eating a salad which involves a whole raw red onion as well as quite a bit of tuna is not really the best idea for a packed lunch at work...i feel like i could set things on fire with my breath. i think this afternoon is going to be spent mainlining extra ice mints like they're going out of fashion.

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-72394413175436091622009-03-02T23:47:00.001Z2009-03-02T23:49:34.168Z

an intriguing idea, although from this i would perhaps begin to worry about my state of mind...there are a lot of sad words in there, which is probably a slightly biased reflection of me given that it's been winter for a while.

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-71061468698830301012009-02-11T21:43:00.003Z2009-02-11T21:45:13.456Z

when i was a student i bought this single on cd and listened to it over and over until i could sing along with every word (even with the rap).i don't know what prompted me to google it this evening but i'm quite glad i did, and took a little trip back to the turn of the century while i was at it. it's hard to believe that it's almost ten years since everyone was freaking out about the world

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-14238778695357862742009-02-09T23:10:00.001Z2009-02-11T21:45:49.684Z

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-33820785548478199542009-01-28T22:51:00.003Z2009-01-28T22:57:39.067Z

i have been struggling against the crushing weight of The Tired (tm) lately, and combined with the long dullness of january i feel like my life has become an endless round of up-work-home-dinner-tv-bed.  little variation and less sunshine has cast a bit of pall over life of late.still, the evenings are getting lighter (with the eye of faith at least), and i have made plans for at least two

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-62160873993401734012009-01-19T22:56:00.002Z2009-01-19T22:58:32.531Z

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-25800341137657822652009-01-12T22:26:00.002Z2009-01-12T23:10:22.919Z

courtesy of caroline (from whom i seem to get most of these little questionnaires):what's the last thing you ate?japanese king prawn with fresh ginger sauce & boiled rice (typical that i do this meme on the one day i have a takeaway in an absolute age!)what's your favorite cheese?strength 5 mature cheddar - the one that kind of tastes of the farmyard.what's your favorite fish?i think salmon

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-86637136154774256202009-01-06T13:51:00.002Z2009-01-06T13:54:00.094Z

last night it was -2.5 degrees centigrade on the way to asda.today i'm wearing tights under my trousers, and four layers on my top half (two of which are merino wool). even sitting in a heated office i'm not even approaching being too warm...when will it be summer again?

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-45893738098431246672009-01-04T21:48:00.004Z2009-01-06T22:16:17.014Z

for the past couple of years est and i have come up with a theme for the upcoming year to give us something to aim for.  2006 was the year of the right man, which turned out to be a total bust.  (ah well).  2007 was the year of giving things a try, which led to new jobs, new challenges, a half marathon, and eating lovely bread in paris.2008 was the year of the iron lady, in which we channelled

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-1955409532200516562009-01-01T19:09:00.000Z2009-01-01T19:10:27.861Z

ahdaf soueif - the map of loveisidore epstein - judaismj r r tolkein - the fellowship of the ringj r r tolkein - the two towersj r r tolkein - the return of the kingpatricia c wrede - mairelon the magicianpatricia c wrede - the magician's warddiana wynne jones - the merlin conspiracymary stewart - the ivy treenigella lawson - nigella bitesmary stewart - thornyholdmelissa marr - wicked lovelybill

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-4000775704920582852008-12-29T19:56:00.008Z2009-01-05T23:31:09.059Z

i'm using safari as a web browser for the first time and it's rather odd, like looking at the world through someone else's glasses.  i'm liking it so far though...perhaps the first step on the way to becoming a mac rather than a pc?  though hopefully i'll not have to get another computer for a little while longer...

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-28541971935702460062008-12-24T16:47:00.008Z2009-01-05T23:29:35.158Z

i'm running on a heady cocktail of coffee and adrenaline today, after a serendipitous evening out at the coldplay gig last night (for free! though i volunteered extremely hard for oxfam so i totally deserved it), and having to get up and go into work this morning.and really, what was the point of going for half a day when i received one email and one phone call (which wasn't even for me), and we

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5724856.post-33991577600783683392008-12-23T13:57:00.003Z2009-01-05T23:24:57.845Z

yesterday i received some rather sad news - my hairdresser is moving to manchester and i've no time to rearrange my appointment so she can fit me in before she goes. i'm gutted - i've been with her for a good two or three years now and she's never given me a bad haircut (which is quite impressive given that my last hairdresser actually made me cry at one stage with one of his cuts).it's always a

catherinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710527019675720377noreply@blogger.com0