Best-Selling Books List

USA Today has released it's big list of the top 150 Books of the last 15 years. You can find the full article here. I've only copied across the first fifty. Out of these, how many have you read? I've put the ones I've read in italics and made it yellow

Rank Title Author

1 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

2 Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution Robert C. Atkins

3 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown

4 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

6 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

7 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

8 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

9 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre

10 Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson

11 The South Beach Diet Arthur Agatston

12 Tuesdays With Morrie Mitch Albom

13 Angels & Demons Dan Brown

14 What to Expect When You're Expecting Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway

15 The Purpose-Driven Life Rick Warren

16 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom

17 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R. Covey

18 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

19 Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus John Gray

20 The Secret Rhonda Byrne

21 Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter

22 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee

23 Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... And It's All Small Stuff Richard Carlson

24 The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd

25 Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert

26 Twilight Stephenie Meyer

27 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks

28 The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards

29 The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger

30 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden

31 A New Earth Eckhart Tolle

32 Oh, the Places You'll Go! Dr. Seuss

33 The Four Agreements Don Miguel Ruiz

34 Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt

35 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold

36 Body-for-Life Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso

37 New Moon Stephenie Meyer

38 Night Elie Wiesel, translations by Marion Wiesel and Stella Rodway

39 Chicken Soup for the Soul Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

40 The Greatest Generation Tom Brokaw

41 Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyer

42 The Celestine Prophecy James Redfield

43 Wicked Gregory Maguire

44 Good to Great Jim Collins

45 Eclipse Stephenie Meyer

46 Eragon Christopher Paolini

47 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Rebecca Wells

48 Your Best Life Now Joel Osteen

49 In the Kitchen With Rosie Rosie Daley

50 Simple Abundance Sarah Ban Breathnach

Tired of Inanity

One of my colleagues at work is driving me nuts. She is dim, beyond anything I have ever come across. Dim and self-obsessed.

I have to explain big words to her. She only listens to part of conversations and instructions. She is older than me, has been here longer, but no one really seems to like her...

She obsesses about little things each day:

Monday it was her period (nonstop complaining about her female bits giving her problems...I wanted to shoot myself - she has no concept of TMI );

Tuesday I got the hear all about her make-up trials, trying to find the "right shade" of eyeshadow and lippy - she spent around £50 on trial bits and pieces at one of the make-up counters in Selfridges and I told her I couldn't see any change in what she had on afterwards, she was not best pleased;

Wednesday it was back to her female problems and what a struggle it is to get into the office and how bitterly cold it was.

Today, Thursday, I have to listen to her harping on endlessly about her sight - it's taken her TWO years to decide to sort out her failing eyesight and now she's telling all and sundry about it, constantly, repeating the same story over and over, including all her mates on the phone.

I am so tired of it already - each thing has to be discussed in the finest detail and obsessed about. I am now in the habit of not talking a lot - only responding when directly spoken to. She also whistles and sings under her breath, tapping her talon-like nails on the desk whilst talking to people on the phone.

I honestly hope that we move offices soon - which is the rumour - so that I don't have to sit near her...because I might, just might be tempted to throw a stapler at her head.

Other than that, I love my new job.

I've googled the word "inane" and found this website which is quite amusing, really.

in·an·ity (in an′i tē)

noun the quality or condition of being inane; specif.,
emptiness

lack of sense or meaning; silliness

something inane; senseless or silly act, remark, etc.Etymology: Fr inanité <>

There are also 203 synonyms listed in the Moby thesaurus for inanity:

absence of mind, absurdity, agnosticism, aimlessness, aridity,
asininity, barrenness, battiness, big deal, blank, blank mind,
blankmindedness, blankness, bloodlessness, bootlessness,
brainlessness, buffoonery, callowness, calm of mind,
characterlessness, clean slate, clownishness, colorlessness,
counterproductiveness, counterproductivity, crackpottedness,
crankiness, craziness, daffiness, dead letter, deadness,
desipience, dismalness, dottiness, dragginess, dreariness, dryness,
dullness, dustiness, eccentricity, effeteness, emptiness,
emptiness of mind, empty sound, empty space, empty-headedness,
etiolation, failure, fallow mind, fatuity, fatuousness,
fecklessness, flatness, flavorlessness, flimsiness, folly, foolery,
foolheadedness, foolishness, frivolity, frivolousness,
fruitlessness, futility, giddiness, goofiness, greenhornism,
greenness, heaviness, hiatus of learning, hollowness, idiocy,
idleness, ignorance, ignorantism, ignorantness, imbecility,
impotence, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, ineffectualness,
inefficaciousness, inefficacy, ineptitude, inexcitability,
inexperience, innocence, insanity, insignificance, insipidity,
insipidness, invalidity, jejuneness, jejunity, know-nothingism,
knowledge-gap, lack of information, leadenness, levity,
lifelessness, lightness, lowness of spirit, lunacy, madness,
meaninglessness, mental blankness, mental void, mere noise,
mildness, mindlessness, nescience, niaiserie, nirvana, noise,
nonsensicality, nothing, nothingness, nugacity, nullity, nuttiness,
oblivion, obscurantism, otiosity, paleness, pallor, passivity,
phatic communion, pointlessness, pokiness, ponderousness,
preposterousness, profitlessness, purposelessness, queerness,
quietism, rat race, rawness, saplessness, sappiness, savorlessness,
screwiness, senselessness, shallowness, silliness, simpleness,
simplicity, slenderness, slightness, slowness, solemnity,
spiritlessness, staleness, sterility, stiffness, stodginess,
stuffiness, stupidity, superficiality, tabula rasa, tastelessness,
tediousness, the absurd, thinness, thoughtfreeness,
thoughtlessness, tranquillity, triflingness, triteness, triviality,
trivialness, unacquaintance, unfamiliarity, unintelligence,
uninterestingness, unknowing, unknowingness, unliveliness,
unmeaningness, unproductiveness, unprofitability, unprofitableness,
unripeness, unsavoriness, unsignificancy, uselessness, vacancy,
vacuity, vacuousness, vacuum, valuelessness, vanity, vapidity,
vapidness, vicious circle, void, wackiness, weakness, weirdness,
wishy-washiness, witlessness, woodenness, worthlessness, zaniness,
zanyism.

Randomness

I've been so wrapped up with my other blog that I've not had given Lizzy's Musings a thought in absolute ages. And I apologise, specifically to my sister, Elize - I know she visits often, because she told me so. We don't get to chat much as she's forever running around like a superhero doing her saving the world thing, so she checks in on LM to see how things are.

So, this is an update to let her know a few snippets.

Our holiday to Santori fell foul to the travel company, XL, going bust. This sucked ass, big time - apologies, Miss Jamie for bad language use - and so we had to make do with a local holiday here in an un-sunny UK. We ended up going to Wales, to Pembrokeshire which has some fantastically beautiful coastal areas. Shopping is non-existent and I did my best to honour Elize on payday by trying to spend of my hard earned cash. Sadly this came to naught - there were no shops. At all. Not even in St Davids. Again, with the sucking of ass. We did however find some good pubs to have lunch and dinner in. Mark made me pay to make up for not being able to spend money on fripperies such as books and jewellery.

The following week, still on holiday, but at home this time around, I got to meet up with Alison Goodman and her publicist, Madline Toy for breakfast, to discuss Alison's newest book - The Two Pearls of Wisdom. It was amazing, not just meeting Alison but being considered important enough to be "expensed" on the publisher's entertainment budget. How cool is that? I've worked up the interview and will hopefully be posting it shortly, once I get the go-ahead from Alison and Madeline. Alison came as a shock to me, having had this image in mymind of a slightly dowdy writer-ly person lounging about in trackie bottoms and tee, whilst writing, but it turns out that not only was she flamboyant, pretty, charming, funny, articulate and stylish but genuinely good people at heart. I think we could have sat there and chatted for the entire day.

My other coup, was the chance to meet up with my lovely publicity girls from Little Brown who look after the Piatkus, Orbit, Sphere imprints. We met at Wahaca for lunch, talked books, authors, writing, reading, what's hot, what's not, food - the list is endless! I had a blast and felt hugely honoured when they hauled out the newest catalogue and a few other treasures which they had brought with them.

I also got to meet up with some of my ex-work colleagues from my old company and I was so happy to see them - I knew I missed them, but to be honest, I had no idea HOW much I had missed them. Listening to them regale me with nightmarish stories of what is currently happening at my old place of work, had me thanking my lucky stars that I was made redundant a while ago. It's given me a headstart on getting my life in order and a new job under my belt - I feel so heartsore for the people in the City who have lost their jobs. I know the rest of the country dislike the fat cat bankers and wotnot, but the thing is: the fatcats are not the only ones who lost their jobs - there are the other "norms" who lost their livelihoods too - the secretaries, post-room working, admin staff, IT consultants. This has a knock-on effect on the local economy - several sarnie places, eateries and coffee shops, including dry cleaning places, hairdressers, and other small concerns - all of these had to close because of this, which means that these people in the service industry lost their jobs, which means that they can't afford to pay their bills in turn - it is a big viscious circle and I would like to say to those people coming down on the people working in London and in the City specifically - stuff you all - this tiny square mile has kept this country running through so much trouble and contribute in excess of 6% of the nation's growth and wealth on its own. What's happening isn't just affecting the bigwigs, its affecting everyone in ever widening circles and instead of relishing the trauma these people are in, think about helping out instead.

Ahem. Where did that come from? Clambers off soap-box.

La-la-la - innocent singing to detract from the verbal outrage above.

It was my nephew's birthday on the 10th of October. I miss him so much. He would have been 33 this year had his life not been stupidly cut short by a pointless act of rebellion and misguided delusions of coolness. I lit a candle to him on the day and sent my sister a text telling her I miss her. Her and her hubby were having a tough time of it too.

This weekend past, the 17th, Mark and I got to go on our competition trip we had won through XFM Radio to Bruges and we had a blast. He drank loads of beer, I soaked up the sunshine and the atmosphere and am keen to write something dripping with elves, goblins and trolls. There is something about that small compact city that just ... I don't know, gets under your skin and makes you want to write. Or is that just me?

I love autumn, it makes me want to nest. I have been fortunate, having received quite a stack of books from various publishers, so I know my evenings will be well spent.

Right, that's enough of me for now. Slightly maudlin, for which I apologise, slightly feisty and fighty, for which I do not apologise.

Catch you on the flip-side.

Reasons why I feel grow'd up today:

1. I am officially working from home today, linked to the world via my blackberry. Tres grown up. I've sorted out a conference to South Africa for two directors, including flights and accommodation. I've also tidied the house...

2. I am at home, waiting for the delivery of our brand new leather couches which we've bought because we were in desperate need of new couches...visitors in the past were in the danger of being sucked into the old couches and coming out in Narnia or sumat.

In my mind, ever since I can remember, leather couches equated to being grown up. My oldest sister had a lovely set and I remember as an eight year old sitting on them, feeling more posh than QEII could on her throne. Once it became apparent that we can afford said leather couches, we took the plunge. And delivery is today.

I have my reservations, to be honest. I think we will need a bigger house to accommodate the couches but I am happy - we've bought them cash outright, like we did with everything else we own, so no debt. It feels very good. Very grown up.

To prevent myself from pacing like a caged animal I've popped some popcorn and am lazing about reading. And waiting.

= Excited and relieved

Tripple hurrah.

Exams are now done. Yay!

No assignments, no studying for two months. Guilt free days and evenings, nestled on the couches, reading, writing and reviewing books. This is the life.

Ecstatically happy.

Exam Time!

I've not been able to keep the old blog up to date these past few weeks due to well, some particularly shitty news regarding the work situation oh, and don't forget, the even crummier exams which I have to sit on behalf of work tomorrow.

So, I will be back online on Wednesday, 2nd July, with hopefully some good news, and the exams behind me.

Why I want to work in Asian Cinema

Because purely...nowhere else in the entire world do they put together movies like this:

In ‘Forbidden Kingdom’, American, Kung Fu-obsessed teenager Jason (Michael Angarano), finds an antique Chinese staff in a pawn shop. This turns out to be the legendary stick weapon of the Chinese sage and warrior, the Monkey King (Jet Li). With the lost relic in hand, Jason unexpectedly finds himself transported back to ancient China.There, he meets the drunken Kung Fu master, Lu Yan (Jackie Chan); an enigmatic and skillful Silent Monk (Jet Li); who leads him on his quest to return the staff to its rightful owner, the Monkey King. While attempting to outmaneuver scores of Jade Warriors, Cult Killers and the deadly White Hair Demoness, Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing), Jason learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of Kung Fu, and thus frees himself.

Ouch

This is what the inside of my head looked like for the majority of the day. And this is what it sounded like when I tried speaking: mumble mumble pain mumble mumble sore mumble can't talk, retch.

Nice.

It's the quiet ones...

We have now lived in our quiet little suburban area for five years and have got quite a good relationship with our neighbours.

Today we woke up to no electricity. So we went to check with various others in our street to see if they knew what was going in. It transpired that apparently quite a few post codes were affected by the power cut. But we got caught up chatting to our arty and eccentric neighbour R for a bit before we bid him toodle-pip to come home and have breakfast. He is an interesting character - very sweet, highly eccentric and mad for anything gold and ancient. The bigger, the more ostentatious, the better, in his opinion. He paints, draws, carves and sculpts and has today decided to give me a lovely drawing he had done of Audrey Hepburn a la Tiffany's. Which I'll frame because it is stunning.

I was busy rifling through a small kist to make space for some hardback books which we've not looked at for about a year, when he knocked on the door and stated that he was quite bored at home and do we mind if he visits for a bit. Of course I said no, I don't mind at all, because all I have to do is feed him a line like: "I heard that there was quite a delay in Alexander being buried in Alexandria by Ptolemy. Why do you think that is?" And off he goes. I would love to attend a dinner with him and Tony Robertson. I can just imagine the arguments and conversations.

Anyway, so we decide to have a BBQ because the electricity is still off. We chat about everything and the conversation rambles like a drunken driver, from lost treasure, to the price of gold, to artwork, to why Americans would pay that much money for statues without arms or heads (R does not understand this at all and said that he would refuse to own a statue, no matter how old, unless it was perfect.), to how much chocolate is good for you, and how much we dislike our mutual noisy neighbours.

And then he drops a bomb. He's carved one of the beds found in King Tut's tomb for his own use. And it is there, in his tiny house, all seven foot wotnot of it, completely inlaid with opals and precious stones, covered in real gold leaf. My jaw dropped, Mark politely choked on some grilled chicken. And then Ray says: yes, I've decided to leave it to you both because you would appreciate it.

My eyebrows have not returned to their normal position.

What you have to understand about R is: he looks like a hobo but is anything but. Around both wrists are these exquisite thick gold torcs inlaid with emeralds and rubies which he had made for him by a jeweller. Around his neck he wears this pendant in the shape of a Macedonian bee, also inlaid with precious stones. These things he keeps covered up because really, who would think he is wearing anything valuable underneath clothes that are that paint splattered and in that bad repair?

He regales us with his gold coin collection which is in a bank vault somewhere and how one of them is so very rare that there are only three in the known world....He looks at us and then smiles enigmatically and shrugs saying that in the end he can't take it with him but it's nice to have them and look at them, when he can. We chat a bit more over loads of roast meet and suddenly we are being invited to his house in a few weeks' time to see all the antique items he's bought over the years. He had a cast done of King Tut's face in bronze (it weighs 80lbs) and had it covered in gold and inlaid all the jewels himself. Mark and I are boggled. Gobsmacked. Other treasures include a table laid out in mosaics depicting Medusa. His walls are painted with scenes from Babylonia and ancient Egypt.

Listening to his stories of the people he's painted or whose houses he's decorated really does make us wonder...who is our neighbour really? And what exactly is hidden behind that very normal facade of his home...We can't wait to visit, to be honest. He is the best enigma I've ever come across and fantastic muse fodder.

I really wish that the exams didn't loom quite so large on the horizon otherwise I would be upstairs, writing furiously. But sadly, from tomorrow it is goodbye real world, hello study-Liz.

But the mystery remains.

Rag and Bone Man finds Cold Cup

Yes, I'm a treasure seeker at heart - watch out Indy and Lara. How incredible is this story?

****
From the BBC website:

A metal cup acquired by a rag and bone man from Somerset has been revealed to be a pure gold goblet from the 3rd or 4th Century BC, worth up to £500,000.

The vessel has two female faces looking in opposite directions with their foreheads decorated with a snake motif.

William Sparks, who ran a scrap metal business in Taunton during the 1930s and 40s, left the ancient treasure to his young grandson John Webber.

The goblet is to be sold by Duke's auction house in Dorchester, Dorset.

Mr Webber, 70, said: "My grandfather was originally a proper rag and bone ban from Romany stock and lived in a caravan.

"My father died in the war and afterwards my grandfather gave me some things shortly before he died.

"One of the things was the cup which I remember playing with. Because he mainly dealt in brass and bronze, I thought that was what it was made from."

After forgetting about the cup for years he rediscovered it last year when he moved house.

"I sent it to the British Museum and the experts there hadn't seen anything like it before and recommended I had it tested at a laboratory," said Mr Webber.

The analysis confirmed its age and that it had been painstakingly crafted from just one piece of gold.

Peter Northover, the scientist who reported on the gold analysis, said in the report: "The method of manufacture and the composition of the gold are consistent with Achaemenid gold and gold smithing."

The Achaemenid empire was based around Persia, but at its height stretched from Iran to Libya. It was wiped out by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.

Ivan Rebroff

I was visiting a few blog and livejournal sites and discovered that a hero of mine, Ivan Rebroff has passed away! It happened back in February this year.




He had the most amazing voice and I remember growing up, listening to his music. My parents had a selection of his records and it was through listening to his music that it encouraged me to sing too - badly, admittedly, but it helped cultivate my love of music.

His musical range was four and a half octoves, ranging from soprano to impressive bass registers. He was unique in that he learned to sing a lot of folk music from across the world, phonetically. I distinctly remember an LP we had of him singing Afrikaans folk songs. He made them sound wild and amazing, as opposed to the usually wrist slittingly depressive stuff the Afrikaans folk singers usually churn out.

What a loss to the world. Pavarotti and now Ivan Rebroff! I have noticed a distinct lack of decent classical music in my CD collection and have plans to remedy that shortly.

Long live the Nightingales.

Competition for Mila

We've been to see Doomsday on Saturday (I know a weekend of debauchery - two movies!).

As sad as it is, I love the Resident Evil movies and Mila's character Alice in those...but, having said that, Rhona Mitra (who plays Eden Sinclair) in this new Brit movie, Doomsday will probably be able to kick Mila's butt from here to...well, Doomsday. Total heresy, I know...but as female butt-kickers go, Mila's had the market cornered for a bit now...but with the new kid on the block...she had better watch her toned derriere.

And apart from that, New Girl is also seriously HOT and can kick an armoured warrior's considerable butt. Fantastic fight sequences and the car chases are superb.

Okay, so I'm not the world's best film critic, but I really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would. It was a good movie, fantastic amazing soundtrack and a good cast, some from the Dog Soldiers cast too, which is pretty cool. And boy, if ever the shit hits the fan, I want a Bentley. And Rhona should be the one driving it.

Iron Man

It's official. Robert Downey Jnr is HAWT.

What an excellent movie. Saw it earlier today and enjoyed it thoroughly. And did I mention RDJNR is hot?

And Oh God, please let there be a sequel... http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/380326/

Rabid Wolves

This is right up there with my stick figure joke obsession. I showed this to my boss and was accused of having a "foreign" sense of humour...eh?

Shameless Self Promotion

The above is the name of my rapidly growing and expanding book review blogsite. I am seriously endeavouring to have it grow (organically) so if there are any authors out there who want their books reviewed, do get in touch!

The website is: http://www.myfavouritebooks.blogspot.com/ . I've got a few things lined up - a lot more books to review along with one or two competitions. The first one looks like it might be Lilith Saintcrow's new Jill Kismet book to be published officially here in the UK (buying them from Amazon.com does not count!).

The others are in the process for consideration by one or two other publishers. It is exciting stuff. I love reading and combining reading with reviews works really well for me - it forces me to make sure I keep ontop of what is coming out in the genres I like reading and one day to be published in! Oh, and people skills. A lot of those need sharpening and smoothing out.

I am pleased to say my final legal assignment is now in - only one more building technology assignment to go .. and then the exams on the first of July. Needless to say, I am sort of breathless in a pained kind of way about this!

But then I will have the summer off to read, write and mooch about. Tripple yay!

Sold!

Yay! I just sold my first ever item on Amazon market place - and I feel a bit chuffed and a bit traitorous too...but at least the book will be going to someone who clearly wants it. And it is a brand new, unwanted gift which has been sitting on my bookshelf for I think...2 years or more, from people at work (who managed to get my reading taste oh so very wrong). Too excellent a quality to give away to a charity shop.

How sad that I get excited about selling on second hand things...sigh. The legal assignment has clearly addled my brains.

2 questions down, 1 to go

After yesterday's complete debilitating migraine I have had to split today in half - today was meant to be my relaxing day with very little to do except read and write, but hey it turns out, the gods had other things in mind.

So first part of today was spent completing Question 3 of Final Legal Assignment. I still have question 2 to do but will be able to research that even more on Sunday and Monday.

And for now, the rest of the afternoon will look like this: read a bit more on the very excellent The Fall by Michael McBride from Snowbooks, make a light lunch as my innards are still not coping after yesterday's illness, maybe have a nap, oh, decorate the succesfully baked butterfly cake which I did early this morning at around eight, make dinner for my exceedingly hard working husband who does not look a day over 30. Read some more, transcribe some handwritten novel notes onto computer (reminder: must rename work in progress) fool around with one or two ideas for musemuggers short and later this evening, relax with some popcorn to watch Criminal Minds.

Bliss.

Treasure Ship Found off the coast of Namibia

This amazing article from today's BBC website:

Namibia finds treasure shipwreck

A 500-year-old shipwreck laden with treasure has been discovered off the coast of Namibia.
The country's diamond company, Namdeb, says it found the wreck during operations on the seabed.

The find includes three bronze cannons, thousands of Spanish and Portuguese gold coins, and several tonnes of elephant tusks.
There were also human remains and navigational instruments. Excavations in the area were halted immediately.

Archaeological experts have identified the cannons as coming from early 16th-Century Spain.
It is thought to be the oldest shipwreck ever discovered in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Namdeb said it came across the wreck on April 1 during operations in the Atlantic after finding some copper ingots and the cannons.

The company is speculating that the ship may be linked to Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who went missing in 1500 after becoming the first European seafarer to round the Cape of Good Hope.

Namdeb spokesman Hilifa Mbako said the Portuguese and Spanish governments had been alerted and they expected a team of experts to be dispatched to the site shortly for further investigations.

"The shipwreck holds more questions than answers," he said.

Namdeb is a joint venture between De Beers and the Namibian government.

This story is complete and utter muse-crack! Off I go to go and make notes and research. I've long wanted to set a story in Africa/South Africa during the 16th and 17th Century.

More competition news

A week later we've been contacted - yay! - we will be going to Bruges in October. Am totally thrilled.

Tomorrow is Mark's birthday. Am really excited for him. We're all trooping off to a posh bar in the West End - here's hoping we don't have to end up scrubbing the dishes at the end of the night to pay off the bar bill!

Happy Birthday Mark!

A cupcake a day...

The almost-birthday girl

In an effort to experiment with baking cakes and such (I've got a very important person's 2nd birthday party coming up) I tried my hand at making and decorating cupcakes today and let me say, what a doddle.

I had huge amounts of fun. I also - again - tried to bake the butterfly cake which I have managed to pull off once before. This time around - big disaster. Just like the round tins which I tried last week.

I am clearly better at baking the smaller cakes, biscuits, scones, breads and muffins - no big patterned or round cakes for me...hmm. This is a problem as the butterfly cake is what is needed for the 2nd birthday party of my god-daughter, Ashleigh (as pictured above).

I think more experimentation will be required, much to Mark's horror as he is worried that his slim waist will expand. But it is all in the name of a good cause. Fortunately the party is on the 10th of May so I have plenty of time. Addresses on a postcard for those who want some of the flop cakes - they invariably taste gorgeous but come out a bit...broken.

On the other hand, it gives me great joy to brag with my excellent cupcakes.

Warm, out of the oven



Experimentally decorated



The completed product.

These sell for £1.75 at a stall in Greenwich. It probably cost me 25p to make and decorate. Go figure.

Happy Birthday to the Bard!

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.
William Shakespeare

Savage Chickens

This from the excellent Endicott Studio blog and it made me laugh out loud. This is totally for Jamie and all struggling authors out there.

http://www.savagechickens.com/blog/index.html

Gok the God

I've not watched many episodes of How to look good naked, but those that I have is simply amazing and uplifting.

Gok is a God. He should run for Mayor of London. Or grand high poobah of the UK, at least.

My brain hurts

What a day. Got up too late to go to gym. So we stayed in.

Mark watched the boxing match on Setanta Sports after breakfast and I hauled all my legal papers out to start on my next assignment. I have been glued to my laptop, legal folder with assignment notes, Oxford Law dictionary and the thrilling Smith and Keenan's English Law handbook kept me company.

I took a break to bake some cake. The cake was a disaster. Not in taste but shape. It is official. I cannot bake round sponge cakes. I ended up running next door with a rather mishappened cake for our neighbours to devour. They have kids that will eat anything.

My brain hurts and my eyes are red and gritty from staring at the computer screen and all the legalese. I'm going to bed now. I can't wait to be done with this course. I know I've said I am enjoying it. Just not today. Today was a bit of a write-off, even if I did manage to get the whole of question 1 with all its extra bits done. Only two more questions to go. Deadline is the 8th of May. It will give me a chance to work up more case studies as I've been told in my previous assignment that there is a general lack of those in my work.

Hmmmmm. Zombie....

Competition won!

Yep! Won the XFM phone in this morning before breakfast for a weekend's paid accommodation at a four star hotel and spending money and Eurostar tickets, over to Bruges...in conjunction with the new movie coming out called "In Bruges".

How superb is that?

This has to be the biggest prize I've won, thus far, in my career of entering random competitions.

So very pleased! Just waiting for the organisers to give me a call so we can work out dates.

Lies to tell tourists

I fell off my chair laughing at this. The email is from the London Time Out newsletter and I just had to share this with anyone who has ever been stopped by a tourist and asked for directions or information. I am always a good girl, trying to help as much as I can, but these lines just bring out the wickedness.

Lies to tell tourists

“Oxford Street used to actually be in Oxford. It was dug up and moved to London after the West End was demolished in the Blitz”

“In keeping with the capital city's keen sense of history, haggling is standard practice in all of London's museum shops”

“Waterloo station was built on the site of the Battle of Waterloo. The spot where Napoleon was captured is commemorated by a plaque in the Upper Crust near platform ten”


“If you've enjoyed your tube journey, you can tip the driver. To get their attention pull the 'emergency' cord in each carriage”

In the news

I try not to get too worked up about newspaper articles that I see and read. But two have stood out for me today:

I can just imagine the hilarity in their village - running for money? But these guys did it today. And they are awesome! Here is the article.



Something else I spotted which really just goes to show how much wrong there is in this country today, where fallen soldiers are not afforded the respect they deserve. This is the article drawing telling and heartbreaking comparisons with the way fallen soldiers are treated in Canada, compared to the UK. Heartbreaking stuff.

Jersey Boys

I got free tickets to go and see The Jersey Boys show at the Prince Edward Theatre last night.

It has to quite simply be the most amazing show I have ever seen. The music is outstanding, the acting is excellent and the storyline cleverly told by the characters. It is a total onslaught of sound and vision and the stage is changed so rapidly and so effortlessly, that you hardly notice it and then suddenly(!)you’ve got a whole new set on the stage.

I must be the only person alive who loves the New Yorker and Jersey accents so I was thrilled by the fact that the stayed true to the broad style of the times.

Such an astounding show – the chap who sings and performs as Frankie Valli is one of the most talented singers I have ever heard (and he’s easy on the eyes too, which isn’t much of a trial). They play all the music live, there is footage from the actual band’s appearances on the American Band Stand…all in all, I’m gushing. I have a pounding headache and feel like I want to pass out this morning, but I am gushing. And smiling and singing (very very quietly) in my head.

Even Cowgirls get the Blues

This is something I wrote earlier on for my online writing group over at livejournal.

It's darker and angrier than anything I've done in quite a while.

I hated him with all my being. My soul ached to smash him into the ground and dance on his grave. I concentrated on those weak blue eyes peering at me myopically and pictured in my heart of hearts the pain I’ve had to endure and all the tears spilled in vain. His hand wavered. The leather belt that a moment ago hung suspended in the air, ready to cut into me, now dangled limply between us. The blow never fell. I saw him for what he was: a fading caricature of a little man with a balding head and wiry black chest hair who lived a small mean life. I felt nothing but contempt. My shoulders were squared, my back rigid, mostly because of pain; scabs do not form overnight. I’ve practiced my shit-eating stare in clubs and in front of my cracked mirror. I will not back down. Instead he just looks away for a moment before shoving past me. Worse than your fucking useless dead mother, he spits. Get my fucking tea on, he orders, like he’s a king and I’m his slave. I don’t even look at him, afraid that I might take a swing at him. For a second I’m tempted to yell at him, to shake him until his head pops off. Instead I turned to the door where my small backpack with all my earthly belongings sat. My scuffed guitar case lounged against the wall, like a drunken mate. I didn’t think. I was screaming too much on the inside. I picked up the backpack, swung it onto my shoulder and adjusted my grip on the guitar case handle in my hand. My silence roared at him as I gently clicked the door shut behind me. I fished my house keys out of my pocket and pushed them back through the door and walked down the street in true cowgirl fashion, on my own, into the sunset.

I have been asked to point out that this is not autobiographical.

Strange Daze

Cross posted on both livejournal and myspace pages.

I can’t really begin to describe the strangeness of today.

I like writing, I like reading and today I have resolved quite a few things.

Things like: never take friends for granted, they surprise you every five minutes; be positive about your own creativite work; the world is an amazing place, be grateful for your part in it (I know, chick moment) as it is constantly changing, giving you different views on things; realise that your small little life you lead is what you make of it and by allowing others to glimpse some of that internal, if sometimes bizarre dialogue, you are probably doing yourself a favour because they get to see the real you.

I spent the day working on an assignment, chatting to Jamie via email, arranging to bake a butterfly birthday cake for a 2 year old in May and pondering my own writings - the working title of which is Heart Of Darkness. I spent some time mucking about with two pages of it, wrote a bit more and then decided to print it off and hand it to a colleague at work to read. I used to be shy about writing - admitting it was like admitting that you were addicted to drugs or booze - a totally guilty secret. I’ve gotten over it and now happily (for me) I chat to people about it and like to get imput on ideas and such (unhappily for them). So we wait to hear what Carla has to say if she remembers to read it tonight.

Strange old dreamy emotional day. It feels like I’ve come to this momentous decision - but I’m not entirely sure what its about. I am sure the Muse will wollop me over the head with it when she deems it necessary.

Off I pootle to double check the old assignment.

Fun with camera

Brands Hatch Snowed Out!

We got up early this morning to go to our very first Brands Hatch race meeting but loh and behold, the three foot of snow covered everything - we got to stand around for 3 hours, visit some of the pits, took some pics of the bikes...and then we came home because it was cancelled and rearranged for May.

Here is the article.

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New lens

Splurged on a new lens for the Nikon and whilst sitting at the diningroom table, with all my uni books strewn about me, earlier today, this HUGE dove fluttered down outside, right next to the window. So, slowly, very carefully I lifted the camera, turned it on, and took some incredibly close zoom pictures of it.

Fan Girl Squeeing

Mark and I pootled around town today, whiling away the day, in order to get to meet the lovely Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, authors of the books the Spiderwick Chronicles which have been made into a movie called, strangely enough, The Spiderwick Chronicles.



I also know Holly from her YA novels she had written:

• Tithe


• Valiant


• Ironside

They are very well written, fun, dangerous and seemingly about real teens.

But, I digress. We headed off to Waterstones' 6th Floor and sat down and waited. I spotted some scrummy posters and asked the lovely W'stones staff member if I could have one after the fact and he said, certainly, you may. Very sweet.

We sat down and waited and slowly but surely the rest of the audience arrived - adults and kids. We did not feel out at all. Which was a big relief.

Tony and Holly came on, did a hilarious presentation about Spiderwick the movie, chatted about how their ideas became reality in the movie and how much fun they had. Oh, and we heard a lot about Beastmaster. Don't ask. You had to be there.

Anyway, about an hour later, having them entertain us with quips and stories and impromptu drawing, they sat down to sign books.

We had decided to buy Holly a present to remember the UK by - a small silver charm from Fossil, in the shape of a crown - she is the queen of YA, after all. She was totally thrilled by it - phew! - and I got my books signed, my poster too and I managed to be a COHERENT fan girl. Which is totally novel for me.

Then we pootled back home. Loot in hand!

Here are some of my pictures I took of my lovely signed items...we were so enraptured by being in their presence, we forgot we had our small digital camera with us. Sorry, Gareth - no photos! Said camera is now dead...so more photos of the other loot, later!

Because I are clever ...

Yay! Got my marks back for my final Planning assignment and lo and behold – I managed to land myself a distinction. How good is that? Can you say SMUG?