Adventures in NeverEver Land

So, Malta was lovely, even sunny at times, and I was utterly sad to leave. Just about managing to stave off the obligatory blues, cheered by the now-traditional cries of the employees of the cattery: 'don't worry, she definitely had a good time, she clearly enjoys torturing us', 'we got the guy who deals with our problem cats to catch her', 'she gave him hell', 'she certainly makes us earn our pay'. Almost makes writing out the cheque a pleasure.

I've also just finished reading Young Stalin, a biography of Stalin/Soso's early years - pretty slow in the first half, but naturally it takes off as you get closer to the revolution and it all starts to make a bit more sense in the context of the knowledge you already have. I'm utterly certain that the main lesson I'll take away from it, though, is how uncannily Lenin looks like Stewart Lee when he's shaved and bewigged:

This is the follow-up to 'something that upsets you', so the very best cure would be burying my face in the soft fur of a purring cat. Ok, so generally when you're upset, the cat decides to be no help whatsoever, but when she does, there's nothing like it.

But if I were going for what makes me feel better just at this second, gotta be herbal tea and chocolate. Hmmm, corner shop calling...

Day 22 – Something that upsets you

Actually, that's easy today:
Violated by TSA at Tampa airport

A combination of many things that enrage and upset me:
1. Sexual molestation.
2. Stupidity.
3. Those who enjoy exercising power over others.
4. Restriction of freedom on the basis of utterly wrong-headed threat assessments.

*Snarl*

Lots of good stuff over the weekend, as previously prophesied. I'd fully recommend the High Society exhibition (the Wellcome Collection have never failed me yet) and Crypt-mas was fun in an utterly odd way - kinda Cyberdog does Christmas. There was RoboSanta! Apparently, Santa's getting old and tired so he built a robot slave to do all the heavy lifting. I fully approve.

Saturday night was excellent, with loads of people I don't see enough of (kynon and asw909 to name but a few). There were unfriendly vibes coming from certain directions but hell, not my problem and I just concentrated on the good stuff.

Then on Sunday it was a matter of staying in bed until the hangover had gone and then going Christmas Tree hunting! I was hoping someone would have mini-but-real Christmas Trees, and it turns out just about EVERYONE'S selling them. I got one from Homebase, though, rather than a random street place, because it's alive and planted and if it's from there, there's more of a likelihood they've let it get properly rooted and it'll actually survive. Bloody heavy to carry back on the bus, though, with all that wet earth. Now the main worry is that the cat'll have it over within a day...

At-home entertainment has also been excellent - Rosemary's Baby last night (*so* good but *shudder*) and Dara O'Briaian this evening. I had no idea he was so good at stand up - took a while to warm up but had me shouting helplessly with laughter by about halfway through.

Bookwise, I just finished Catch 22 which was as awesome as I'd always been led to believe, even if it did tie my brain up in knots for the first 80 pages or so. Now I'm racing through Catcher In The Rye, the complete opposite in terms of simplicity of prose. It has charm by the spadeload, though, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Things that made me smile while out and about today:

• A wedding greeting card that said:
  'Till death do you part*'
  *or monogamy gets boring.'
  Cruel but in a hugely appealing way.
  
  
• Getting Catch 22 out of the library and finding its dewey code was 813 HEL CAT.
  
  
• Passing a beanie hatted bloke at Euston pulling his 'I'm so cool' look and wearing these:
  
  Just. No.
  

It's been a busy week, filled with never-ending assignments, too much wine and food from a different country every night. It's been great to spend time with some lovely people though and more of that to come tonight at Tenebrae. And dancing! Lots of dancing!

So.... Day 18 – Your favorite birthday

My 30th birthday, definitely. Me and Chris were in Bali and we took a little boat across to the island of Nusa Lembongan. It was a fairly overcast and unwelcoming day. We trekked along the beach with our rucksacks until we found a room for a decent price (i.e. ridiculously cheap). Then Chris planned to get me a massage somewhere, so we took off in search of a swanky hotel or somesuch - the plan being to break out of backpack mode and indulge a bit.

We then got lost in a rainforest in the most intense and drenching rainstorm ever, the kind where you are literally soaked to the bone and your clothes are just plastered to you. We stood there, in a total mess, and just started giggling uncontrollably. We ran in the rain, a little dog joined us, we met a cow randomly in the middle of the forest (the dog growled at it to keep it in check as we edged past).

I'd been afraid I'd be depressed that day because it's such a landmark birthday, but I felt a wonderful sense of freedom. That now I was out of my 20's, there was no point in being hung up on past events or teenage angst. That now I could just live. And running and laughing in the rain, I did.

My brain is absolutely fried by way too much statistical work for geological assignments. This is not what I signed up for! *Grumble grumble*

So, time to catch up on the 30-day meme: Day 17 – Your favourite memory

Actually, this is a hard one. Most of my favourite memories would be of just *being* somewhere and being in love with the this-ness, but since the meme requires several 'moments' in the next few entries, those would fit better there. Actual events are usually at least somewhat bittersweet, so I can't unreservedly point to one and say 'now that was GREAT!'

I guess I'll just go with one that always brings a smile to my face - riding down an Edinburgh street in a bus when I went there for the Uni open day, looking down a side-street and seeing a frigging MOUNTAIN. Instant love of a place that's come to mean so much to me.

Apart from the usual mad round of socializing out there (parties where I'm the youngest person by 20 years, always an experience), I also spent a lot of time talking over the state of the world, the UK etc with my dad. His focus at the moment is the madness of the US airport scanner/'enhanced patdown' situation.

If 'randomly selected' in a US airport, your choice is:
a) take an unsafe level of radiation,
b) let someone (who may be of the opposite sex) grope you and your young children (young women are usually the ones 'randomly selected' for this),
c) don't fly. And if you get there, then say, 'well to hell with it, I won't fly', they won't let you leave.
Yep, madness.

People are starting to rise up: We Won't Fly I'll be hoping it does some good. A major pilots' union is also getting in on it, which I have high hopes will have some effect - if they refuse to go through security, they'll shut airports down. These people already take plenty of radiation and are as disgusted as anyone else by the 'sexual assault' alternative. And since they're in control of the bloody planes, the idea that they need checking for bombs is sheer idiocy.

Till something changes, I won't be making the trip over the pond... and I'll be hoping this strong public response will mean the UK government won't start considering these kinds of ridiculous 'security' measures.

I'm just back from a glorious weekend bringing in the olive harvest at my parents' place in Italy - hard work, but made fun all the same by good conversation, lovely sunshine, good food and good wine. God, life is good out there! Plus I got to climb trees, which is always sure to make Bex a happy girl. The satisfaction of picking the olives is like that of the work in Highgate Cemetery - you're doing something productive outside in nature, you're making something through the sweat of your brow rather than just the buzzing of your braincells. Wonderful stuff.

We had a drama at the last minute last night when we took the olives (over 400kg of them) to the frantoio (olive press) and the guy did a whole 'you should have brought them at noon, I may not have them done till Wednesday' routine. Despite the fact we'd brought them at the time we'd booked. And that the olives would be spoiled if he left it till Wednesday. Useless bastard. After sleeping on it, we decided to go there again this morning, rescue the olives, and take them to a more reliable guy. It's hard to believe that this morning I was lugging crates in the sunshine and am now sitting in a London flat with the heating going full tilt. Seems harder to believe I only left on Friday!

The weekend has indeed been rather lovely - and I'm reasonably healthy to enjoy it!

Pics from the Emsworth Perambulatory Photographic (and Pie-eating) Society are here. It took us about 2 hours to make it across the Heath, arrested at every step by the beautiful autumnal leaves. cydrephexia's lovely wife joined us and was amazingly patient with our slow progress, despite the sudden wintry chill. The trip gave me a chance to get to grips with my new camera and I'm reasonably happy with some of the results. Definitely need to RTFM, though.

That was followed by the official Best Sausages Ever at The Flask in Hampstead, after which I really had to go shopping. So of course did I NOT go shopping and had sneaky extra drinks, then green_badger and I found ourselves at 7pm in a cobwebbed motorway underpass, searching for a shopping centre which shut 5 minutes after we arrived. More pub was thus necessary.

Today, in keeping with the Weekend of London Clichés, I'm off to wander through Portobello Market with my lovely man, since he hasn't been there before. It'll be my first time back since I moved from there - hopefully I'll be able to see it with fresh eyes and not scream 'you're all a bunch of pseudo-bohemian yuppies!' at the top of my voice. Well, not too much, anyway.