Monday 26 October 2009

Great to hear from you Scarlett! Losing weight, however at a very slow rate, two belt notches in eight months isn't great, starting to walk more, which is good, and forcing myself into 3 portions of F&V a day, not enough, but baby steps.

It was my first visit to Madrid, unfortunately I was working with some Italians who felt that half eight at night was a good time to finish work so I didn't get a lot of ambling time, we tended to go out at about nine thirty, have some Tapas and then a bit of wandering round, it was all very civilised, a couple of nights I was sitting on my balcony at one or two in the morning listening to someone playing the guitar down the street.

The weather was warm, although we did have a couple of days where it rained quite heavily as the Madrilènes said I was very lucky that I saw the city in sun and in rain.

Memories... Bopping to latin beats in a club decorated with red luminous ants, ending the evening with churros and a cup of melted chocolate, sitting on the balcony on a warm early morning listening to the music, watching the Italians go wild over eggs and bacon over sauté potatoes! (Mind you it is one of my quarterly treats, and up there in the things I would have as my last meal.), the taste of proper tomatoes for breakfast.

I shouldn't be feeling hungry after that, after all I had the very wonderful Starshine's three spice chicken (as revealed Over There on the 30th of October) for supper last night, yet for some reason I feel sauté potatoes calling. Only two more days of the chicken to go, I guess I am going to find out if it freezes!

Somehow it was a week of losing things. I forgot to pack my Amex card, so had to pay the bill on my own CC, I remember packing my toothbrush and toothpaste, yet when I arrived in Madrid they were not in the case, and I lost my walkman cable, had to pay £19.50 to replace it at lunchtime today, however I know that definitely started off in Madrid with me, even if it wasn't there any more come Tuesday, and now I cannot find the taxi receipt from Heathrow to home!

I managed to read the new Valdemar book, relatively enjoyable, it was never going to be any more than a fluffy read however it was an enjoyable one.

Over There Books

A while ago I asked peeps for their recommendations for books, now I haven't read all of the recommendations yet, however I thought I would give my thoughts over here rather than start a new thresd.

Subterranean by James Rollins, maybe I have been spoiled by all of the trilogies in fantasy, but the story just rushed around without really bothering with any answers, not really my cup of tea.

Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Interesting take on pushing people towards the decisions that you want them to take, I am intrigued by the book, but need to read it again to feel more confident in my thoughts on it, currently listening to it in audio form.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Never having read or seen Pride and Prejudice (OK apart from that brief bit in Red Dwarf) I don't know how closely this stuck to the original, overall I enjoyed it, however I think I may well have enjoyed it a lot more had I read the original.

The First Scarpetta trilogy by Patricia Cornwall, I really cannot cope with horror stories which is why I didn't try Stephen King or Dean Koontz, I cannot even watch Buffy without getting nightmares, so I wasn't sure if I was up for this, however I really enjoyed these stories, well written books, with a good detective story.

The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson, Don't you hate it when the only character you like is killed in the first 50 pages L I'm at the plastic surgery bit, and Basil Exposition is explaining the back plot at the moment. Not sure how it is going to go yet, but it seems OK.

Yes there are a lot more to read, and I have them laid out at the moment for when I start reading properly again..

Saturday 17 October 2009

Small Thoughts

1/ Two new things I've cooked thanks to Over There. I enjoyed both, however I think the only thing I may redo is the mushroom sauce - However I think I will add some tomato paste and possibly flame some brandy with it.

2. I know it is the start of catholic burning season, but how much money do the people opposite me have? half an hour of fireworks, and not little ones either!

3) Off to Madrid on Monday, looking forward to it, hoping that I manage to get enough time to see the city, as I'm staying in the city centre it should be OK.

4 - The weather has turned cold, I'm happy! I lvoe the shock of stepping out into a crisp morning, it really makes me feel alive.

5\ I am fed up with the Biggest Loser, half an hours TV stretched to 1 hour 23 minutes of show. Although I would have liked more of what they ate on the eat out week.

6. The sound on my TV seems to have gone, wish I hadn't bought a huge widescreen TV, it is going to be interesting getting it out of the flatlet!

7) Think I had the flu t'other week, still feeling a little rough but oh so much better than I was!

8/ Maybe I need to work out how to use my slow cooker.

9\ Purchased some salmon fillets stuffed with crab mousse from M&S, pricy, but very nice.

10. No evening course this year all of the ones I wanted to do were cancelled due to lack of people, ah well, maybe next year!

11) Two bizarre language things - The US pronunciation of buoy (UK - Boy, US Boo-ee), and the US spelling of blue cheese (bleu)

Sunday 4 October 2009

On the Jukebox today...

Pixie Lott - Boys and Girls
The Kingsmen - Louie Louie
The Bosshoss - Ca plane pour Moi
Taylor Swift - You belong with me
Bobby "Boris" Pickett - Monster Mash
MC Hammer - U can't touch this
Lily Allen - 22
Rolf Harris - Stairway to Heaven

Well you can't say I'm not trendy!

Some damned awful bug last week was supposed to be in Spain but spent the whole week in bed feeling crap.

Ah well, as the saying goes "Life, loathe it or ignore it, you just can't like it"