Month: March 2001

very very big grin.

Yesterday, I finished reading A Sweetheart Deal and cried for most of the last two chapters. It’s a brilliant book, certainly Ben Richards’ best so far. If you haven’t bought it and read it yet, go and get it now. Sorry – you can’t borrow my copy as I’ve loaned it to Fi.
Inevitably, as soon as I’d finished it and got through an entire pack of Kleenex (I’m *such* a softy), I zipped down to Waterstones in search of new entertainment, and emerged with Atomised by Michel Houellebecq. Any book which has a picture of a near-naked woman on the cover and is described by the Independent as “gloriously, extravagantly filthy” has to be worth a look. Seriously though, I read his previous novel (Whatever) and enjoyed that, and this book focuses on relationships and interaction with the world – which if you have looked at the novels I’ve been reading in the last few months, you’ll know is a theme I’m always returning to. Will report back as I progress through the pages.
But do go and buy that Ben Richards book … no, now! go on…! go!

A grey and not particularly cheerful day outside, but inside, the good mood marches on.
Last night I went for beer with Fi, Alison and Sarah, as well as a few of their mates, and also bumped into Arron and GSWUTWBTB in W2. The triumvirate returned here for coffee post-pub and we discussed rye biscuits – it was one of those nights. Today we’re meeting up for lunch.

oh, and for those who are wondering, I’m trying to be a cool cucumber at the moment.

today I went to St Albans to give a lecture. quite good, although I’ve got a feeling I may have got myself a speeding ticket as I rushed up the A3 – bummer. at least there was a guy with a speed camera, and I was doing 85. not good.
St Albans is an interesting looking place – it was Sarah’s home town when she was small. Roman ruins, a cathedral, a bustling market, and a distinctly unchanged-for-years feel to the city centre – the branch of Marks and Spencer has very old-fashioned neon sign, the sort that the branch here dispensed with years ago.

last night: drinks with DA, Kearn, Paul F, Paul C and a couple of their mates. nice, to use a well-worn word.

I love piccalilli

highlight of the day so far in a work sense – the man from the Ministry dropping by to check us out for noxious pests. Looks ok, so that’s good.
Today is one of those busy days in which not a great deal is actually achieved – I need better time management. Or a holiday. Not sure which.

If things go as well as I hope they might, then I may just get to be in an even better mood than I already am at the moment. I’m not prepared to say any more than that at the moment, because I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but things are, as they say, looking up.

Bad day: yesterday my brother dropped something onto a can of luminous yellow spray paint that was in his car. The can ruptured. The inside of his car and everything in it is now covered in yellow paint.
Moral of the story: do not carry cans of yellow spray paint in your car without making sure they can not be damaged.