Monday, August 31, 2009

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

This was an impulse movie choice after someone (who I would very much like to give the nom de blogger of Zen Master, but who would not appreciate that at all) mentioned it off-hand last week.

It was smashing, one of those delightful surprises that I'll watch again and again. It met some of my key reqirements:

1) Geeky male protagonist with unplumbed depths

2) Smart and feisty female protagonist

3) Bizarre modern definitions of relationships

4) Plot focuses on one seminal night

4) Based on a book

5) Kick ass sound track

Highly recommended.

Whackhead Simpson: Asda are chumps

An oldie but a goodie!

Friday, August 28, 2009

(White) Lies

The nephew just raced in to tell me "there's a bird sleeping on the patio! Come look, come look!" My heart sank but I followed him as he tiptoed quietly to the window (so as not to wake the bird) and whispered, "See, he's sleeping."

I didn't actually commit to the idea that he was asleep (sort of non-commitedly mumbled a "wow" and a "would you look at that."). Then I hustled him out of there with his mother to the park. I've cleared the dear departed away now, so I'm waiting for him to come back and want to see if the bird is still sleeping. I don't actually want to lie, but I really don't want to explain that the bird met his maker (or rather, the exceptionally clean french doors). It's just too nice a Friday evening for that.

It also reminds me of the time when I was little (around 5 or so), and my pet gosling kicked the bucket. Poor Pieter. Anyway, he died, and it was traumatic, and The Mother encouraged me to come away from the cardboard box in which his little yellow body was lying and talk to The Father on the phone. So I went along to tell The Father what had transpired, and then The Mother came back to get the phone. While she was talking to him I raced back into the dining room to mourn the dead. But to my shock, he had disappeared. The box was empty. Jesus had come down to take Pieter away to heaven. I was elated, The Mother was relieved, and it was years before I found out that she had removed the evidence while I talked on the phone.

An eternity of anticipation

At last, Friday has arrived. And so, too, the end of August - possibly the longest month I've lived through.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ten minutes is all it takes

It took me ten minutes tonight to finish tidying my place - a task I've been procrastinating over since Monday. I'm not sure why I do this. Maybe it's a kind of reverse instant gratification?

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Flutterby

Full circle

March 2009: See Dr Weir who advises Disease Modifying Drugs. Advise Dr Weir that I have in fact moved to London. Be transferred to Dr Silber.

July 2009: See Dr Silber. Be put on Disease Modifying Drugs. Have life go tits-up and advise him that I've been moved to Milton Keynes. Be transferred to Dr Butterworth.

August 2009: See Dr Butterworth, who urges Disease Modifying Drugs as quickly as possible. Be advised that the prescription centre for Milton Keynes is, in fact, Oxford. "You'll be seen by my colleague, Dr Weir. Hope you don't mind."

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Just because you're paranoid...

...doesn't mean people aren't out to get you.

I thought I'd left the paranoid, sad, nervous part of my personality back home. But no, she popped out in full force today, complete with twitchiness, repetitiveness, grumpy attitude, and tendency to bite people's heads off for the most minor of infractions.

But it's ok, I drowned her in the pool after work. Hopefully she won't reappear soon.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Solitude

Lying there in the dark, she realised that although she was no more alone now than she had been for years, it was the first time she'd felt alone. The difference between solitude and loneliness, she said into the blackness, was that solitude was voluntary, and could be ended at will.
Thyme Out - Katie Fforde

Making it up as we go along

I watched my manager put together a presentation, using the work we've done over the past month (a lot of work, I hasten to add) to justify major changes to the company website. It was all I could do not to run around the office screeching: "We don't know what we're doing! It's all bullshit! We've made it all up! And who cares anyway? It's only a poxy £400,000 project!" And then I fell into a tiny heap, sobbing.

Ok, only in my head.

This job matters to me, in the way all things I work at matter to me. I want to get it right, first time, perfectly. But we're all just making it up as we go along.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Corporate claptrap (2)

You know you're stuck in a Corporate Hellhole when you go to the team huddle (...I know...) and the boss hands out a stuffed dog to the team "top dog".

Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Ipod 10-track experiment (2)

Kudos as always to Der Fuhrer.

1) Aretha Franklin - I say a little prayer for you
2) Crowded House - Weather with you
3) Robbie Williams - It's De-Licious
4) Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge over trouble water
5) The Shins - Caring is creepy
6) The Beatles - Yesterday
7) Counting Crows - Perfect blue buildings
8) U2 - Beautiful Day
9) Nirvana - Pennyroyal Tea
10) Pink - So What

The only thing about me that never changes is my taste in music. Talk about lack of personal growth.

Dear Carrie Bebris

I have been trying to read the Mr and Mrs Darcy Mysteries since I first heard about them a few years ago. And I have not been disappointed.

Jane Austen sequels usually fall into two categories: awful and wretched. Mr Darcy Takes a Wife was awful and wretched. Putrid actually.

But Pride and Prescience was fabulous. The characters were interesting, but true I felt to Jane Austen's work. The relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth was really well written - all the wit and spirit of the original, not at all ruined by them actually being married now. The story was intriguing, but not too contrived. Having Darcy respond as a rationalist and Elizabeth use her intuition was an effective plot device, because they each had merit as such.

My only niggle was that the English characters sometimes lapsed into Americanisms, but that was only a very slight concern. I'm really looking forward to the other books in this series.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Ugly Truth

Shockingly adult about sums it up! Definitely worth a look though - but don't expect any real wisdom to come out of it. Or any real romance. But it is laugh out loud funny.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Skype scam

And you thought Nigerians had the monopoly on "foreign investor needed for super-safe bank transfer of tragically lost millions" scam.

"[23:24:31] silver abbas says: Good day,

Please I crave your indulgence in reading through my mail to understand
my predicaments.My names are silver Abbas, i am a Sudanese by
nationality but presently i live in Accra Ghana with my mother and my
kid sister as refugees,since the political crisis in our country Sudan
that took the life of my father who was a wealthy business man and a
opposition politician to the present regime in our beloved country
Sudan

The main reason why I am contacting you now is to seek your assistance
in the area of my future investment and also for a helping hand over
some huge amount of money my late father deposited for me as next of
kin. This money amount to ($12.750, 000, 00 USD) Twelve Million Seven
Hundred and Fifty Thousand United State Dollars only, my late father
deposited for me here in Eco Bank Ghana Limited some years ago.

Since we escaped here to Accra after the death of my father, I have
contacted the concern Managements of the Bank so many times but what
they told me was due to our refugee status they will not release the
fund to me,that I should present a foreign partner or a company to
stand on my behalf for the transfer since then we are in search of a
foreign partner to help us retrieve the money from the Bank and also
help us relocate to your country and invest in real estates.
Please help us stand as my foreign partner to make this transfer to you and in time of the investment and we can come and live with you.

We are ready to give you 30% for your assistance.

Thanks and God bless you,

David Abbas.

You can contact me via my private email: silver.abbas@live.com"

Only 30%! I think gullibility is worth more than that, don't you?

Legging it

I've embraced the leggings trend. A few weeks ago I impulse bought a very nice blue print tunic. I realised that it wouldn't look right over jeans or a pair of trousers. So I thought about it.

I have a pair of grey yoga type trousers. But they just didn't look right, you know? The material was too thick, and the grey and blue, which looked really nice in my head, just looked very blah when when I put them on together. So I decided to bite the bullet and get some leggings.

I went to Gap first, and this really nice salesperson advised I go to H&M, because their leggings are better. She said she preferred them because they go down to the ankle, but can also be hoicked up to the waist and "I don't about you, but I like to yank them really high". So she directed me to H&M (turn right, go past the tree and keep going right) but I got lost and ended up in Debenhams instead.

Now, I'm deathly afraid of Debenhams. All the tiny collections freak me out, even though their sales are amazing. But I was desperate for the loo and I thought, maybe they have one in addition to leggings. I found some really nice ones as well - black, ankle-length, and distinctly un-80s ski pants. And they look really nice with my blue print tunic, if I do say so myself. And I don't think I looked like a sausage, because I paired it with my new black cardigan (and you guys know how I love black cardigans) and my black pumps and I had a rare moment of feeling well put together and comfy.

But don't worry - lest you think Liz has left her graceless ways behind her, the buttons on the tunic have a habit of coming undone at awkward moments.

Pondering expectations

Try not to let your imagination colour your perception of reality. Real people react differently in life to the way they do in your mind - there's no point in being disappointed in people not meeting imaginary expectations. They can't read your mind. And why should they?

Not as good as the book

I succumbed and went to see The Time Traveller's Wife tonight and, predictably, it didn't meet my standards. It's a good movie, but I thought it was missing all the pathos that made the book so incredibly powerful.

The movie flinched skimmed over the surface, where the novel really delved into the characters, making an improbable situation into something tender and hearwrenching.
There was never any hope of capturing that on screen, no matter how lovely Rachel McAdam and Eric Bana are.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Dear Sophie Kinsella (2)

Welcome to the list of Liz's favourite authors.

There's no medal or ceremony or anything. Just the satisfaction of knowing you made onto the list.

Congratulations!

Love and kisses

Liz

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Corporate claptrap

Dear Bosses,

Please make up your minds.

Please please make up your minds.

We're losing the will to live here.

Love and kisses,

Liz

Monday, August 10, 2009

Pimp my cane


A little while ago, a friend and I were discussing the vagaries of weight loss, body image and the like. I was commenting that I had bought a load of cheap clothes, because until I've hit the magical goal weight, I don't "deserve" more expensive clothes.

She replied, saying that in her experience she has found it more productive to treat herself to good clothes, because even though she's aiming to lose weight, she is still allowed to look and feel great. She said it keyed into the way she looked at weight loss too. Rather than being draconian and forcing herself into giving up all nice things because she was fat fat fat, she began to look at herself as a body that needed care and attention and deserved to be cared for and attended do. And then she acknowledged that I may have a slightly more complicated relationship with my body, because of the MS.

You know how occasionally someone says something in passing that actually makes you gasp at the truth of it? This was one of those moments. I had never allowed that thought to bubble to the surface, because it almost feels like an admission of defeat. And that's the hardest part about all this really - not admitting defeat. Because yes, I have a complicated relationship with my body. It's out to get me. That's not paranoia - that's truth. I always knew something was out to get me as well, I've always had a lurking suspicion. My body is out to get me. My immune system thinks I'm one massive germ, and is determined to eradicate me. My immune system is the Borg, and resistance is futile.

But it's also not my body's fault. I am Liz's slowly ticking, waiting to implode, time bomb of a neural pathway. But it's not my body's fault. It's fucked up, big time. But it's not my body's fault. And it's not my fault either.

So what can I do? I could feel sorry for myself. I could be ruthlessly practical. I could make crass jokes about impending disability payments. Or I could do all of the above. I started by buying a cane. It isn't an admission of defeat. I've had to use it once, but mostly it's just knowing it's in my bag that makes me feel better.

I'm not actually at war with my body, and the sooner I accept it the sooner I can make myself healthier and, hopefully, keep bouncing back.

Success is...

...completing the Daily Mail crossword.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Wortelkoek

A word that sounds infinitely more yummy in English: carrot cake.

Read the book first!

Here's a trailer for The Time Traveler's Wife, which is due for release soon. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out on screen, because it was an amazingly complex and lyrical book.

A lot of people google Russell Tovey

I've had so many hits on his name, I think (Russell Tovey) I'll (Russell Tovey) just (Russell Tovey) seed (Russell Tovey) my blog (Russell Tovey) with his name (Russell Tovey). For SEO you know.

Friday, August 07, 2009

A frustrating day

A day in which I didn't hit my own targets, or meet my own expectations.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Dear Russell Tovey

First off, let me say that I enjoyed you immensely in The History Boys. Great movie, and you were great in it.

Second of all, I loved Being Human. The idea of a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire sharing a house in Bristol was genius. I am an old hand at admiring angsty werewolves, and you did a really good job.

Third, as John Chivery in Little Dorrit, you were quite good. I would have given you higher marks if you would just stop crying.

You cry in everything, did you know that? As trademarks go, do you want blubbing to be yours? Sniff it up, and get on with it!

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

It's a mystery

I'm not the best detective novel reader in the world, because while I get sucked into the story, I don't usually read along identifying whodunit, or spotting red herrings. But I do enjoy mysteries. And a good crime with a twist is always entertaining. Sherlock Holmes is always a good bet. I haven't read any Agatha Christie, a situation I intend to rectify. I've read some PD James, but I don't love Dalgliesh (not sure why, but I find him a bit wet). Elizabeth George's Lynley books are really great, as is Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan series. I have absolutely no time for Patricia Cornwall though.

And now I've finally sampled the ambrosia of Dorothy L Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, and have found myself in a heady netherworld of crime and passion, with a delightful Edwardian English atmosphere. Sorry, got a little carried away there.

Although initially Lord Peter is just a little too foppish to cope with, his character is soon revealed to be intelligent, acerbic and shrewd. The language is really great - lots of intelligent puns and classic references that just make Wimsey stand out even more. And the supporting characters are so well drawn - Bunter especially.

But most of all, the plot is engaging and sucks you in. Arsenic and spiritualism are a brilliant combination. And I'm extra gleeful - there's a whole series of Wimsey left for me to read. I love it when that happens.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Books, books, books

Some new additions to the bookshelves:

The Collected Dorothy Parker - Dorothy Parker
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love - Raymond Carver
Fifteen Tales of Modern Attraction - Alison MacLeod

The last two are short story collections. I covered Raymond Carver in third year English, along with other modern Americans, and fell in love then. That was Where I'm Calling From, so we'll see how Love compares. My friend Cams has been recommending it to me for ages, so on her head be it.

I love short stories, and of all the different forms of writing I've tackled, I enjoy that most. Maybe because there's value in the vignette? Power in the pause? Something special about dipping ever so briefly into a character's life, and then having the story end before you're ready to say goodbye.

My Happiness

I was thinking about their gig the other day so for your listening pleasure, Powderfinger.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Well I think it's funny...

When I took The Sister and The Nephew to a wild fowl park the other day, there was an enclosure of ducks and geese that really tickled my fancy. (Disclaimer: I am inordinately attached to geese - they're grumpy and funny, the misanthropes of the bird world.)

The enclosure was enormous, incorporating at least three of four ponds. But every time someone appeared with a bucket of the food you can buy at the entrance, they came charging down to the fence, honking and quacking and flapping and falling over each other.You can see it here, but be aware that all you can hear is me talking. A lot.

New Slang

For one reason or another, New Slang by The Shins has been in my head a lot lately. I finally rediscovered my Ipod and there it was - the Garden State soundtrack. I love the scene in which New Slang is played - Zac Braff is in a doctor's waiting room with Natalie Portman, who has foisted her earphones on him. He's listening to the song and staring at her with narrowed eyes. She stares back at him intently, watching him listen to a song, watching for his reaction. And his face is filled with an overwhelming sadness.

It's a great movie and it's a great song. I really enjoyed the symmetry of it coming up on the Ipod as I sat in A&E with my feet up on the chair, watching people come and go to the words "I'm looking in on the good life". Unfortunately, Zac and Natalie did not make an appearance.