juliet

General life update

Sun, 12 Oct 2014 16:14:23 GMT

( Stuff! And things! )

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time, like the ever-rolling stream

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:32:01 GMT

This is another of those bits-and-pieces updates.

I went to Glastonbury! I really am going to write a proper post about this (possibly when I have sorted the photos out & put them on Flickr) so I will restrict myself here to saying: SUNNY. ALL OF THE SUNSHINE. Awesomeness.

Sidney spent the week of Glastonbury with my parents, where she had a splendid time charging round their local park (far superior to ours, being about 4 times the size and containing a river, in which Sid accidentally went swimming), trying to drink from the sprinkler, and waking up far too early. She then came back and behaved like a total brat for about a week, culminating in dragging down and eating the head of Superted, my teddybear. (I've had him since I was 2, and doop brought him out to Australia for me last year.) I was *seriously* livid and very upset, but I've found a toy hospital who specialise in repairing damaged elderly bears, and for now he's tacked back together and bandaged up while he's on their waiting list. Sid has been behaving much better since. [sigh]

I have had a couple of stories accepted by non-paying venues, which is very pleasing. I will update you all when they come out! Possibly also other good news on this front, but I am waiting to talk about that for now (jinx issues).

I spent this last weekend at an *awesome* workshop on consensus decision-making and facilitation of same, run by Seeds for Change. Inspiring, informative, and bloody knackering. Plus I got to meet some really cool people, and hang out with some whom I'd already met. They're doing an advanced version in Oxford in October, which I'm seriously considering going to.

The Balcony Book meanders onwards (onto month 7 now already!); other sorts of work continue to occur; financial destitution continues to be staved off. I was entertained to read this blog by someone who's given up buying new clothes -- this year I have bought precisely one new clothe (a fair-trade cotton dress, at Glastonbury) and one second-hand clothe (a v nice tunic top thingy). I suppose this probably is partly due to my wish to reduce my carbon footprint ekt ekt (i.e. I continue to endeavour not to buy stuff, in general), but mostly it's just due to financial prudence. Clothes or (e)books? The reading matter has it, every time.

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linky linky

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:03:08 GMT

Just to get rid of open FF tabs again...

Sexism at Newsweek: in 1970 and now; also a comment piece over at Racialicious drawing attention to the very-white-focussed nature of the Newsweek article.
The Economist on the demise of cap-and-trade in the US. Unfortunately this appears to be largely down to public denial in the face of climate change, rather than, e.g., because carbon trading fundamentally sucks.
What to do now the Digital Economy Bill has been rushed through Parliament (aka: it's not quite over yet).
Drugs, maths, hallucinations, and the visual neurons (with thanks to doop). Well worth a read. I particularly like the research scientist who conducted his research by taking peyote. Sadly this was in the 1920s, and his modern equivalents do not do such things; or at least, they don't admit to it.
Apparently this is very good chocolate. I would like to buy some, but the shipping is as much as the chocolate, so I'll wait till I'm next over in Kensington & can visit Rococo, which sadly will take rather longer to happen than it would have done when I was still working in Kensington. OTOH, this way I don't drop nearly a fiver on chocolate, which is quite a lot of money however good the chocolate is.

ION: have had a lovely fortnight's holiday in, variously, Northern Ireland, and Boston (Lincolnshire, not the other one); of that latter, more anon. Now I am back in London & surprisingly busy for someone whose work is only full-time in the loosest possible sense (i.e. that sense in which it is the only thing that I am doing in the paid work line, rather than any sense in which I actually work an approximation to what this society considers to be full-time hours. I like it very much this way.). The dog continues to be adorable, time-consuming, and an agent of chaos. And it is spring properly today ftb I wore my sandals to the park. Down with proper shoes! Also the first tiny asparagus shoots are appearing in the allotment.

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This week: not-work, and Spain

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:35:03 GMT

I have spent the week in Spain with dogrando, which has been very nice. If quite chilly & often damp. The sleeper train to Barcelona from Paris is terribly civilised, with a restaurant (albeit not vegan-friendly) & a bar. Barcelona itself has awesome Modernist stuff (all Gaudi all the time!) and a market where you can get exciting mushrooms for very small quantities of money. We also spent a day at Figueres visiting the Teatro-Museo Dali, which is absolutely awesome, especially if like me you are v fond of Dali. It lives up to the 'Teatro' part of the name with the humour & the attention to setting. I'd love to see some of the more famous Dali paintings in that context.

Then we caught another train down to Cordoba, which is very Moorish and has ludicrously narrow streets which are great for wandering round. Only had a couple of days there before a few hours in Madrid (cold, had lunch at awesome veggie restaurant) & train back to Paris last night.

(I may write more of this later; or I may not. It was all very lovely, anyway.)

The other event of the week was that I was made redundant on Monday, which was at least not a surprise. I am at least still a qualified cycling instructor, so if you (or ppl you know) want cycling-in-London-safely lessons feel free to get in touch for rates!

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Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:56:28 GMT

Totally failed to go to either of the parties I wanted to go to last weekend, due to my knee being out of action YET A-BLOODY-GAIN. It's a little better this week, and I am back doing the physio exercises from last time again, because they did actually *work* last time, albeit over a period of about a year. On the upside, geared bike is once again in action so I don't have to stomp up Hornsey Rise (twice) or Muswell Hill (once) on 72" gear again.

Did go down to Mum & Dad's for belated birthday lunch, which was lovely, both in terms of getting to hang out with family, & in terms of the fact that lunch contained two of my favourite things in the world, viz, roast potatoes, and blackberry-and-apple crumble. Which is a good thing for a birthday lunch :) Then came back to Bermondsey and there was home-made pizza.

This week I have mostly been trying to finish knitting my second pair of nice warm socks before I have to teach again & therefore need them to keep my toes warm; going back to the osteopath (not content with knee/hip breaking down, neck is now joining in*); and writing (assorted work articles are due soon, and I really ought to start pitching some other things).

Tonight: curry! Also keeping a surrepitious eye on Twitter for #appletablet news (why yes, I am something of a Mac fangirl, why do you ask?).

* I haven't been for 6 months, so we had to do the medical history thing all over again. I am getting a bit bored of reciting my medical history to people after the last few months. But it was kind of entertaining when we'd got through the "so why are you here?" part (nice simple upper back/neck, probably triggered by poor posture), & then I told her all the *other* stuff. "So... there's quite a lot going on there." Yes, yes, there is.

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My morning so far

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:34:41 GMT

08:03 Leave house for schools course in Muswell Hill.
08:18 Just past Tower Bridge, realise have left photo ID & CRB number (both required by school) at home. Phone P for CRB number, but if I go back for my passport will be hideously late, so plough onwards hoping that we can sort something out when I get there.
08:50 Halfway up Hornsey Rise, something goes spang in my knee. Ignore it & press onwards.
09:01 Arrive at bottom of Muswell Hill. Reflect that Muswell Hill should come with a health warning, & specifically this health warning should read "TAKE THE GEARED BIKE NOT THE FIXIE, YOU DOZY COW, EVEN IF YOU DO HAVE TO GET UP 10 MIN EARLIER TO SORT OUT THE SADDLE^*". Nevertheless, start riding up Muswell Hill.
09:02 Begin standing on pedals.
09:04 Realise that a) Muswell Hill is about 3 x longer than I thought, b) that it is only getting steeper, and c) that I can no longer turn the pedals even when standing on them. Give up and walk.
09:11 Arrive at top of Muswell Hill, which is bloody hard work even on foot. Dash into newsagents to acquire restorative sugary beverage as can already feel precipitous decline in blood sugar. (Note to self: the muesli isn't cutting it, back to the scrambled tofu.)
09:15 Arrive at school, on time hurrah. School very quiet, and curiously dark.
09:16 Informed by very apologetic teacher that school is shut for the day as their power & thus heating are out of action. No idea what has happened to message to this effect sent to office/emergency phone.
09:20 Lead instructor & I are taken round playground, school, etc by apologetic teacher, then shown the staffroom and offered tea. High quality sofas in staffroom, good stuff. Have ~~gossip~~ meaningful discussion of work-related issues with lead instructor.
10:05 Leave school again. Zoom down Muswell Hill cursing traffic jam that prevents real actual full-on hurtling, spinning out, & other such excitements.
11:05 Arrive home, having made brief detour via Spitalfields Health Shop. Put kettle on.

So, hm, yes. I think I deserve a nap or something.

* Someone nicked the saddle & seatpost off Cepheus before Xmas, & I have still not put the replacements on. I worked out this morning that this is because if I don't put them back on, then Cepheus will stay safely in the house & no one will steal any more things off him. Obviously I need to get over this.

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interesting bikes

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:51:56 GMT

I learnt to ride a penny farthing yesterday! (It belongs to my friend Charlotte, who rode it to Dunwich earlier this month, and it's a *lovely* machine.)

Turns out it's surprisingly straightforward (though apparently I got the hang of it quicker than average), but getting *down* again is a bit more tricky.

In other bike news, I've been offered a part-time cycle instructor job by CTUK, about which I am inordinately happy. Starting late Sept or early Oct.

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Busy busy

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:58:46 GMT

What I was going to do last night:
* watch some TV;
* knit a bit.

What I actually did last night:
* was struck by INSPIRATION whilst cooking dinner, and got this fic (which has been hanging around nearly-finished for a good couple of months now) finished and posted;
* spoke to my parents;
* wrote a long email to uon about the brokenness of my social brain;
* watched a couple of very good vids;
* knitted a bit.

So I think that was a successful change of plan.

Now I have to do WORK, and get it finished in time to get to Mardi Gras on time.

(This posted from the iJournal Mac client, which seems to work fine with DW.)

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