Where Have YOU Been?

Yes, I know that's what you're asking.  On 31st December I resolved to post here every day.  The next post was on 2nd January (d'oh!) and since then... nothing!  What a dolt!

Well, four months ago I was worrying about learning my lines - no change there then.  I'm now worrying about learning my lines for a different play.  This time I'm performing in Damages by Steve Thompson, with RAODS at the Plaza Theatre, Romsey.  It's a cracking play, but with tons of lines, definitely the most I've had to do, so I've really got to get cracking and learn the part.

Anyway - that's just a quick update so that my millions of loyal readers (ha!) don't wonder whether I've dropped off the planet.

In other news...  Actually, no.  You can wait until Monday for the other news!

Howdy Stranger!

Oh, blimey! A year has gone by so now I'm appearing again on Diamond Geezer's annual "who has me on their blogroll" feature. Which might mean that one or two new people stumble by my blog, stare slack-jawed at the lack of anything interesting, and continue on their merry way, looking for something worthwhile to read.

So, I'd better post some new and original content today...

Thoughts for the week:

• Ten-Pin Bowling is actually pretty good exercise, if the pain in my arms, shoulders and thighs is anything to go by this morning.
• It's much better to have the first read-through rehearsal of a play in the beer garden of the local pub, rather than a chilly church hall.
• The moving walkways in the Andoverbranch of Asda are incredibly patronising; telling me to hold on to the handrail and stand still.
• Next week I shall be drinking more Dry Blackthorn cider than is good for me.

That is all. See you next year!

Tumbleweed

Welcome to another edition of "Where The Hell Have You Been?", with your host... Me!

I've been taking it easy recently and neglecting my blogging duties. But as my little sister has commented about her lack of recent posts, and as it's the first of a new month, I thought I would give myself a good kick up the backside and try to get back into the swing of things.

So, here's what I've been up to recently:

• Finished with Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. It went really well. You can see some pictures here.
• Went to Ireland to visit MLYW's sister and to watch the absolutely superb Radiohead at Malahide Castle, near Dublin.
  
• Organised a read-through of the play that I will be directing at this year's Woking Drama Festival.
• Took MLYW to Ely for a couple of days to visit the stained-glass museum and climbed to the very top of the cathedral.
• Had some good friends over for dinner.

I think that I need to write about some of that. There's definitely a whole post brewing about the rudeness of concert-goers!

Snow + Hail = Snail

I have to credit MLYW with the title to this post. But she was in Dublin and they do things differently there, so I can only assume that the gastropods cascading upon Ireland were some sort of governmental initiative, or something.

[Luckily, I don't have an editor, or that entire opening paragraph would be rightly dismissed as utter bollocks and deleted.]

So. Hello there. It's been a month. An entire month! When I'm posting even less often than Chuckie, something's seriously wrong!

Well, actually nothing's wrong. I'm happy in my new job - though very busy - so am finding it veeeery difficult to find time to blog during the day (today is a rare exception). And my evenings are spent either rehearsing, or designing drama festival logos, or attending meetings of one sort or another. It's all busy, but mundane and there doesn't seem to be much worth blogging.

So. That's what I've been doing. I'm still here; I'm still reading your blogs (even though I've not even found time to comment recently); I'm not lying in the hallway with a broken leg, phone just out of reach, with mail piling up on the doormat. At least, not at the time I'm typing this...

Ssh! Be Vewwy Quiet.

No, I'm not hunting wabbits. I've just been really, really busy.

I started my new job three weeks ago and it seems like my feet haven't touched the floor since. My days are packed. From the 45 minute drive to Andover, through eight or more hours in the office, with barely a moment to grab a sandwich, to the drive back home. It's been a little tiring - I haven't worked so much, or rather, I haven't had to concentrate on the same task for hours at a time, for years.

So it's been a bit of a culture shock. Since I started blogging I've always been able to find the odd hour during the working day when I could write a post. And even when I haven't posted every day, it's not as if I didn't have the time to, but I found myself without the will to.

Now I'm having the opposite problem: if I do think of something to blog about, I don't have the time to put my thoughts into electronic form.

I'm slightly resistant to start blogging at home. MLYW doesn't see enough of me as it is, what with Ottershaw Players duties to attend to, so I'm reluctant to spend an hour each night in the study, typing away.

But hey, it's a positive thing. I've got less time because I'm enjoying my work (for the first time in 2 or 3 years) and the days are just flying past.

Still Here!

Thanks to Mima for the Mwah! Award. I know I'm probably supposed to pass it on, so my Mum and sister can have the award too.

It's been a bit quiet here recently - sorry about that. Two weeks off between jobs and I've just been lazing about doing not very much, so I haven't had much to tell you!

We've done the first weekend of our Farrago. Mum took some pics of the dress rehearsal. It's gone down quite well so far, which is good and should make some cash for the group so we can put on the play in the summer.

I have to put together the Players' newsletter today, as well as sorting out some household chores, so I'll sign off now.

Oh, but before I go, spare a thought for Dave "Delmonti" Dawson who's going into hospital tomorrow for his hip-replacement op. Good luck chum!

Four Thoughts

1. Only a 3-day week this week, which means it doesn't really feel like Friday, but it's still the weekend tomorrow. Hooray!

2. I keep bumping into people who I wouldn't have thought would read this blog and have never commented, but tell me that they do read it from time-to-time. At the moment I write this with a fairly specific audience of about half-a-dozen people in mind (hello Mum, Jo, Dave, Mary, Chuckie and Dave). So please, if you are an occasional reader who never comments, do leave me a comment to this post. Just click the link below which says "pertinent musings". You don't need to have/create an account, just click the "Anonymous" button. But please do tell me who you are, how you found the blog and how often you read it. Thanks!

3. Just before Christmas we had a team lunch and "prize-giving" in the office. The award categories were all totally bogus (e.g. I won DBA of the Year, which is nice, but I'm the only DBA in the company!), but I won a couple of nice certificates and some chocolates for the Christmas tree. What's the best award or prize you have ever won?

4. I noticed a few weeks ago that my header image doesn't stretch across the whole header. It doesn't seem to matter what size image I upload to Blogger; it just gets shrunk in the process. If you're looking at the site in a resolution larger than about 800x600 (and doesn't everyone nowadays?) the header looks awful. Anyone know how to fix it?

So THAT Was 2007...!

As is traditional here in the Blogiverse, I'm going to do a round-up of my blogging year. I probably should have done it on New Year's Eve, then set about my resolutions yesterday. But I don't have any resolutions (not that I'm going to write down and have you hold me to, anyway) so you'll have to put up with this.

January

Magnus Mannusson died. I moaned about the fact that I didn't blog enough (it would take me until mid-July before I started doing something about that) and moaned about my old job, on the day that I left. I praised my new job (though it is yet to work out as well as I'd hoped) and started a new blog for my production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. An optimistic month.

February

Only 2 posts this month. One bemoaning the lack of posts, descending into a surreal rant, and one to beg for money for the Thames Bridges bike ride. I wonder if that's happening again this year? February was when we had to abandon Merry Wives and switch to the back-pocket reserve of Whose Life Is It Anyway?

March

We moved house! To a place that we own ourselves! Well, to be fair we probably own about 2% of it. The rest belongs to the mortgage company. But it's ours in theory. At the same time I switched broadband providers (PlusNet - very good indeed - mention me if you switch!) so was offline for most of the month. Oh, and I told you my top-ten films. How did I have time to come up with those?

April

A rant about dentists (okay, my childhood dentist) and the NRA and a couple of play reviews. That's it!

May

A lack of cycling; kids called 'Bubba' with guns; a major PC crash; some actual cycling; and, hallelujah, Diamond Geezer linkage.

June

The play happened; we went to Dorset; MLYW changed her job; we started decorating and another play review.

July

The month when I finally started trying to blog daily. Rather than go out and generate my own content, it does seem to mostly be commentary on news stories, but I remember the summer and autumn fondly as I managed to get in a real blogging swing. So what happened? George Melly died; chuggers annoyed me; we went to see Genesis; an "8 facts" meme; "unveiling" footballers; more (actually, less) cycling; car problems; my nephew the sitcom star; Raylord; killer kitties.

August

LOADS to report this month: how to spend those lottery millions; anniversaries; NODA summer school (re-reading that entry gives me goose-bumps); a massage from David Bowie; discovering PhotoHunt; Soul singer painting; number one hits on my birthdays; an audition (or was it?); my Amazon wishlist; Guinness; Dublin; Olé; Diana hysteria.

September

Still blogging almost daily: Goodwood revival; problems blogging from work; Lord Arthur appears; Likes and dislikes; the first Classic Album (I really have to get back onto those...); a very long bike ride; books; kitchen accidents (recently revisited); plugging the Woking Drama Festival; fountain of youth; advertising Coca-Cola; Thai airlines; posters; Harry Nilsson; weight-loss plans (yet to materialise); shed-building.

October

Fruit pastille flavour-distribution unfairness; LOTS of play reviews; Facebook; fatties; Petworth station; anagrams; Strictly Come Dancing; Halloween.

November

Nov and Dec were a little sparse given the previous 3 or 4 months entries, but with 10 and 12 blogs, they are quite prolific compared to the state of play at the start of the year:
Heston; old Triumphs; Treasure Island; robo Skype; Parade; bike sex; OP re-jigging; a fantastic Journey's End.

December

Seaton Canoe man; Radiohead loveliness; getting older; Farrago writing; Christmas apprehension; not sleeping.

And that's it for the year. Recently it's felt like a struggle. MLYW's new job structure, more unpaid sick days than I would normally take, and some big unexpected expenses mean that the past few months have been a bit tight, money-wise. So this year we need to tighten our belts. Which also means I have to make an effort to lose a few of those inches around my waist.

2008 is an even-numbered year, and I always think that they are better than odd-numbered years. Here's hoping that we all get what we want this year.

Keep Up

It's been a bit quiet here of late. Unfortunately I've slipped out of the habit of blogging every day. Sometimes it's just very tough to actually come up with a topic to write about - and I never had a backlog of posts in reserve, as I think some people have.

I've also had a vague feeling of depression recently. Nothing big or dramatic, just enough to prevent me having any good ideas. I reckon it's probably caused by my dissatisfaction with work (nothing new there then!) and November, which always feels like the darkest, dingiest and most depressing month of the year to me.

On the other hand I have managed to do some positive things. Along with doing some design for next year's play, I've started work on a design for a new website for the Ottershaw Players.

This is the old one. And this is the new one.

Obviously it doesn't have much content yet. And if people (i.e. the group's members) like it, I'll install WordPress on our server which means I will be able to get the look and feel just right. The free WordPress site is very good and pretty close, but the navigation needs fixing up.

But some feedback on the design would be good.

Hallo-when?

I'm sorry but I don't buy into all this Halloween thing. When I was a kid we never went trick-or-treating; it was just something we saw on American TV shows. MLYW thinks that she used to do it on 31st October as a child. But I think that was probably just her Dad's excuse to dress up and scare people!

Actually, her Irish heritage probably has something to do with it too. Trick or Treat started out hundreds of years ago as 'souling'. The poor of the parish would go around the day before All Souls Day, begging for food in return for which they would pray for the souls of the dead. This ancient tradition, once commonplace all over Europe seems to have been supplanted by Guy Fawkes celebrations in England. Why ask for sweets when you could get a "penny for the Guy" and buy fireworks, to be stuffed up a cat's bottom to amusing effect?

The 'souling' tradition seems to have stayed current in Ireland though, half-term holidays coincide with Halloween, so the kids get a week off school to play pranks and cause mischief. The celebration took root in America after the huge wave of Irish immigration in the 19th century, eventually becoming the now familiar and annoying tradition of extortion with menaces in the 1930s which started turning up in England again since the 1980s.

I'm preparing for the evening by putting up the blackout curtains and turning down the volume on the TV. Shhh... If we all keep quiet, they'll soon go away...

Face Up To It

OK - I've done it. After all the months of saying I wouldn't, I've caved-in.

Yes, I joined Facebook. I feel a little bit ashamed and dirty, but also happy to be included in such a big club. And I've got 12 friends already! Is that good? Who knows. Does it matter? No, not really.

I think I'm regretting it already. One more place to update with interests and activities... Though if it leads me to making the one contact I need to find myself a new, worthwhile career, it will be worth it!

Dead Arrows?

Why do so many people take everything they read on the internet at face value?

You can write ANYTHING on a blog, refer to it in an email, post the contents of that email in another blog and then suddenly you have an entirely false "history" which will be endlessly quoted and forwarded by credulous fools and the easily-outraged.

Take this recent viral thing about "The Red Arrows are BANNED from performing at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony".

There's a petition against this online at 10 Downing Street (please don't waste your time signing it!). There are literally hundreds of blogs pontificating about this non-issue. Arguing what it says about our government and our national identity.

The answer, of course, is that it means nothing as it's all a load of bollocks!

Please, before forwarding on one of these "shock-horror" emails or petitions, spend just 5 minutes finding out whether it is true or not...

Lazy Day

I had a day booked off work today and managed to fill it with not very much.

We finished painting the walls of the living room on Sunday, so I thought I would make a start on doing the skirting and fireplace which badly need touching-up, but the exploits of Mr Tony Soprano and a three-part BBC4 documentary about motorways were far more tempting.

So now there's a saggy hole worn into the couch!

I did spend some time talking to a nice advertising man, finalising the script for our radio ad for the Woking Drama Festival. Listen to Radio Jackie if you live in North Surrey or SW London to hear the ads; and do buy tickets to come and see the festival!

Spleem

I’ve missed 2 days! Sorry – it’s unforgivable.

Of course, only this summer a gap of 2 days on this blog would have been a miniscule hiatus. My loyal readers were used to having to wait weeks at a time for an update, but since the end of July I’ve posted nearly every day, with the exception of 1 week in August when I was away. Which is allowed!

The tricky thing is finding things to talk about. The only theme or thread running through this blog is whatever I get up to in my life. And if 2 or 3 days go past without much happening, then this online diary will look like a rather sad, old-fashioned sort of diary:

“Got up. Went to work. It was boring. Got home. Had tea. Watched TV. And so to bed.”

Let’s face it. You’d get bored very quickly indeed.

Actually I have done a few more exciting things the past couple of days. I’ve written the October edition of the Ottershaw Players newsletter and I’ve been arranging for press and newspaper advertising for the Woking Drama Festival.

[OK, so I stretched the meaning of “exciting” there, just a tad.]

Trouble is, I spend so much of my free time doing other stuff at my PC that I find it hard to concentrate on thinking up a blog post. So maybe I should do what I did today; think of a subject and write it up in an email which then gets sent home for me to upload to Blogger later. So maybe that’s what I will do for now. If work are going to block my blogger access, I’ll just get my revenge in other, even more petty ways, by pretending to work when I’m actually writing a blog post about not working.

Good lord, I can feel my whole existence disappearing up its own fundament at the sheer self-regarding stupidity of the whole affair!

Chin chin.

Books Books Books Books Books

Do you see those buttons over there? On the left. The ones entitled "currently reading" which link to Amazon ads for the books in question?

Well, I have to come clean. They're a bit of a fraud. Not a total fraud. Just a little bit of one.

In theory, I am reading those books. Trouble is, I started some time ago ("Calamity Physics" in August; "Book of Dave" back at Easter!). I was enjoying them OK. And they both seem like entertaining books which I ought to try to finish.

But, like lots of you out there, I do tend to read 3 or 4 books at once. So sometimes it's easier to concentrate on pulpy crime fiction, or Stephen King's latest, or a play (or ten), rather than putting in the effort to finish the more erudite novels.

[Oh, no, that's wrong. I've just implied that Mr King isn't erudite. That's not true. I do think that he is one of the best writers that ever lived. And I really hate the snobbery from "literary circles" which denigrate his work because it happens to be popular. No - he was just in the list because his books are easier to read than those on my "Currently Reading" list.]

Where was I?

Oh, yes. So, those books there. Over THERE! Those are reserved for my long-term reading projects, as I tend to polish off the intervening ones in a day or two. Three at the most. And it hardly seems worth amending the blog template for that, does it?

Incommunicado

Blogger has been blocked by the firewall at my office. This is a pain because I spend my down-time (you know, coffee breaks, lunch, etc) writing and posting my entries. Not that I'd ever do that when I'm supposed to be working. Oh, no!

But now it's been blocked, I'm suddenly paranoid. Was I the reason that it's been blocked? Is it a local thing, inn our office only? Has someone noticed excessive traffic from my PC and blocked it, or is it a company-wide issue and the rule has been implemented world-wide?

In which case, I'm now even more paranoid! Did some techie over in Florida notice traffic from my PC and decide to block this non-work site? Or are there loads of bloggers in my company, using the same site? If so, who are they? And are they sitting at home posting paranoid ravings too?

It's also a bit of a pain. Blogspot addresses haven't been blocked completely. I can still read peoples' posts but I can't see their pictures and I am unable to add comments, unless they are hosted outside Blogger. So, when I read everyone's blog at my morning coffee break, I can no longer comment on them, unless I remember to log in at home later, bypassing Bloglines (which is my blog reader) and re-read and comment again.

Argh! The whole infrastructure of my blogging life is falling apart!

I'm even more worried that now I am restricted to blogging from home I may fall out of the habit of posting every day - a habit which I have managed to maintain fairly diligently for the past month or so.

I've got some ideas for posts which I can prepare in advance. Maybe this is a wake-up call to tell me to change the way in which I blog...

Or maybe I just need a job where I can surf the web as much as I like?

When You Wish Upon A Website

I mentioned my Amazon Wishlist quite a few times recently. Just in case you really, really wanted to buy me a birthday present and were stuck for ideas.

I use my Wishlist for two purposes. Firstly, so that people can see what I'd like for birthday, Christmas, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Eid, etc, etc. However, it's also a useful aide memoire, allowing me to note down those items I find, that I fully intend to buy for myself, but which I currently can't afford, or can't justify buying right now.

My Amazon Wishlist has now been running for almost seven years now and I thought it would be fun to examine some of the items therein to see what they say about me and my changing tastes.

Most Recent Item
CD: A Bell Is a Cup Until It Is Struck by Wire. £4.47.
Added on 16th August 2007.
While reading Tony Wilson's obituaries recently, I became interested in bands like Wire, A Certain Ratio and Gang of Four, which emerged from the Manchester scene in the 1980s. I've never really heard any of their music and I thought it was time to educate myself. I've been fascinated with A Certain Ratio for some time now (without actively seeking them out) as they got their name from one of my favourite Brian Eno songs: The True Wheel, from Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).

Oldest Item
CD: Pin-Ups by David Bowie. £9.98
Added on 18th September 2000.
Lord Bowie's album of cover versions from the mid-1970s. Featuring Twiggy on the front cover, she looks remarkably like him, or vice versa. At some point I've owned all of Dame David's work but this is, I think, the one album that I've never got hold of.

Cheapest Item
DVD: Buster Keaton - Vol. 2. £2.99.
Added on 16th August 2005.
There are a slew of Buster Keaton DVDs on my Wishlist. This one just happens to be the cheapest. This is the sort of stuff to show to those empty-headed sorts who think that just because something is old, black-and-white and silent, it must be rubbish.

Most Expensive Item
Creative Zen Vision:M - 60Gb Multimedia Player. £159.99.
Added on 15th January 2007.
Drool. I want one badly. I listed this at the beginning of the year when it cost around £199. The price has dropped by almost 20% since then, but I've still not been able to justify buying it for myself, not with a new house to decorate, etc. Anyway, this is the MP3 player of my choice. Byte-for-byte, it's cheaper than the iPod and you're not locked in to using a single media format and installing iTunes. And I think it's prettier too.

Highest Priority
DVD: The Nightingales - The Complete Series. £7.97.
Added on 13th December 2006.
A fantastic, rarely seen sitcom from 1990 and 1993. A dark work of comic genius (one of the four main characters was a dead body) set in a Beckett/Pinter influenced universe inhabited by werewolves, gorillas and Christmas allegories.

Lowest Priority
DVD: Law and Order - Series 4. £20.48.
Added on 27th June 2006.
Law and Order is supposed to be great. But I've not yet watched Series 1 and series 2 and 3 are on the wishlist, so this one is at the bottom of the pile.

Most Recent Item NOT Added to Wishlist
CD: Eternal Nightcap by The Whitlams.
Not added on 20th August 2007.
This album was recommended to me by a good friend and I fully intended to add it to my Wishlist. But then I noticed the 4-6 weeks delivery time quoted by Amazon. So I ordered it from one of the Marketplace sellers instead. Should be 5 days delivery from California and then I can see what the fuss is about...

Me? No, me!

Hello. I've been away at acting school for a week; learning to be schizophrenic. I think.

I'll catch up with comments and all your blogs asap.

Mwah!
x

Anniversaries

The other day I realised that I've been blogging for over two years now. And it's not the only anniversary that the summer brings.

Two years ago MLYW and I had just got back from our honeymoon in Shanghai.

Two years ago I was thinking of a new play to direct after having done Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Two years ago I was looking forward (sort of) to my last birthday in my thirties.

Two years ago I was about to go to NODA Summer School for the third time.

This time of year always makes me realise how much more quickly time shoots past as one gets older. But I also look back over the past two years and wonder how much has changed in my life.

We've bought a new house which is slowly being tidied, re-organised and decorated and I've changed jobs (but not careers, unfortunately) - though I really miss the guys I used to work with.

Overall, I'm really quite happy and more or less contented with my lot. I could be fitter, but the regular bike rides are pushing me in the right direction. So I think that those feelings of not doing enough new things are probably just the usual middle-age uncertainties that everyone is plagued by.

Certainly MLYW would say that I do lots of things and that I'm not at home enough for her. And she may be right -- when I have a hobby or an interest, I tend to devote all my resources to it and find it hard to say "no" to people.

So the chances of taking that photography class, or signing up for guitar lessons, are pretty slim while I keep devoting all my time to local drama and not enough time to re-painting the living room, or fixing the shower!

That's another reason for winning the lottery: there's not enough time to do all these leisure activities when you have to work for a living!

Tomorrow I'm off to Loughborough for a week, taking a class in 'Contemporary Drama' at this year's NODA Summer School. No doubt when I return I will be bursting with even more ideas for productions with Ottershaw Players. I will also be completely knackered after a week of hard work during the days and too much cider in the evenings. If you're the religious type you may want to say a prayer for my liver.

See you all next Saturday!

8 Things You Hate About Me

Oooh! Darn you Allen. These tagging things are really annoying. I like reading other peoples' lists, but I hate thinking up my own. Then again, it beats working!

[Disclaimer - regular readers of this blog may already know some of this stuff.]

Here are the rules:

The rules are simple…Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. Habit: I have a scab on the crown of my head which I keep picking at. I got the original scar many years ago at Open University summer school, when someone under the influence of mucho alcohol fell off a bar table onto me, squashing the sunglasses which I had perched on my head. I now pick at the scab when concentrating, bored, anxious or on any other occasions when I require a bleeding and painful scalp. On the positive side, I hardly bite my fingernails anymore.

2. Fact: I was born exactly 1,887 years after Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Actually, that's not quite true, as it doesn't take into account the change from the Julian to Gregorian calendar in 1752. So, all 'anniversaries' commemorating events prior to that year are actually 11 days out.

3. Habit: This is somewhat of a confession. I've recently become hooked on "Project Runway" (the US version of UK's "Project Catwalk"). It's as Camp as David and it's entirely based on the world of fashion (which I find alternately boring or despicable), yet I find the weekly dose of cattiness, sketching, designing and stitching incredibly entertaining. But this doesn't make me gay. Oh no. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Oh, maybe I'm hooked on Heidi Klum? Yup, that's what it is.

4. Fact: I can juggle. Only the standard 3 balls and only in the ordinary way - no fancy patterns. But I learned once and never forgot how.

5. I usually read about 3 books at once (is that a habit, or a fact? I've decided it's a habit). I'll have one or two tomes in the loo, one by the bed and maybe one or two more lying around the house. I seem to have no problem picking up the story.

6. Fact: Today I visited a banana ripening and distribution warehouse in Swindon. The nice man who showed us round knew everything there is to know about bananas. All the bananas I saw today had come from Brazil, though many other countries produce bananas, including Cameroon, Columbia, Winward Islands and Iceland. The most common variety of banana eaten in Europe is the dwarf cavendish. So there!

7. Habit: I'm addicted to email. I can't communicate with people unless it's via email. People will ask me to do something for them, face to face, but I ask them to send me an email, or I'll forget to do it. And I hate phoning people to ask them things, so I email instead - even though phone would be quicker and more reliable.

8. Fact: I have eaten lamb's brains, but I don't like broccoli.

Okey dokey. I've found some things to write about. Now it's your turn: Mum, Jo, Dave, Chuckie, David, Mary and Clare (sorry only 7 not 8 - I don't know enough people!).

Edit: Ooh! I know someone new! Welcome Rion, and thanks for picking up the baton.