'Well I sold my soul to Jesus and since then I've had no fun.'
Today's subject header seems fitting, considering the furore surrounding the Pope's current visit to the UK. My opinions on the matter are pretty much non-existent - I really don't care. A girl I work with is going to London this weekend to protest though.
I'm currently getting ready for my holiday - we fly out a week on Saturday - and am getting quite excited although it still seems a long way off. I need to book accommodation for Reykjavik (I've learnt to spell it!) and buy a new swimming costume as I somehow managed to lose the old one. There's lots of washing to be done before we go, and probably many other things that I won't remember until the day before. My friend Helen from work has lent me lots of interesting books about Iceland and every time I look at them I get more excited.
Last Thursday I had planned a quite evening of glass painting and relaxing, but while in work I was emailed by one of my walking friends and reminded that I had in fact agreed to go to the Royal Exchange theatre to see Dr Faustus for one of the half-price previews. So I met the others in Pizza Express and we had a long-overdue catch up on the gossip (one friend has a potential new boyfriend, and another might be quitting her job) before heading to the theatre. I had looked up the plot online while in work but was expecting the play to be quite dry and full of long speeches about the nature of goodness, but I was completely mistaken. The play was riveting, and produced in a very physical way, complete with ZOMBIE ARMY and illusions that would baffle David Blane (seriously: they decapitated a guy, then pulled off his leg, made objects on a table move without touching them, and produced Alexander the Great from under a sheet out of the Duke of Saxony). The first half was very long but we were all hooked on the action, however the second half was slightly more full of speeches about the nature of sin and goodness, and I'm ashamed to say that I dozed off at one point. (It was late!) I woke up for the famous line about Helen of Troy launching a thousand ships and the rather poignant end though. It was all totally worth it too - I heartily recommend the production if anyone is in Manchester in the next few weeks.
On Friday I finished off my glass painting while watching Almost Famous, and on Saturday morning I got the train out to Hebden Bridge to see the lovely Lorna of Leeds for our day out. We walked along the Rochdale Canal then along the Pennine Way up hill for a while, and had lunch sitting in a field overlooking the valley. We exchanged birthday presents (hers was in May, mine in November, so we're sort of in the middle) and griped about passive females in films, talked about our jobs, boyfriends and families, and generally got up to date on our lives. We detoured the walk into Heptonstall to check out the ruined church and the grave of Sylvia Plath, then headed back to Hebden Bridge for a well-deserved pub dinner. I had Pie of the Day which was awesome - lamb and mint. There should be more Pies of the Day.
I left her in the arms of her charming new beau after many plans were discussed for exciting literary trips in the future. I then spent my Saturday evening doing VERY LITTLE as I was surprisingly tired.
On Sunday I cleaned, then ate, then went to the gym, then cooked risotto. I like days of small accomplishments.
Then it was back to work, and the return of Alex from her holiday bringing with her lovely fudge from Cumbria and my motivation, which is good. We had a good long meeting about the recent developments in work and regarding my job. I did my presentation at the School Away Day last week, and it went really well - rather too well actually as now I have to do it again in front of the School Board meeting, as it includes lots of academic staff and hopefully the prospect of many more conferences coming my way. Yay? I'm feeling good about work at the moment though - I'm up to date with my emails, pretty much on top of my work, and now it's nearly term time it's livening up a bit in the office too. August is a slow month in the university, but a necessary one for us.
On Tuesday I went to line dancing and was asked if I would like to be one of the six dancers performing at the Manchester Law Society dinner in October. I restrained my 'HELL YES' response and agreed politely. 'You do know it's on a Saturday night?' I was asked. My initial response was a confused 'what else would I want to do on a Saturday night?' but then I realised that I was obviously expected to have some wild plans in place for my evenings, and apparently watching The Big Bang Theory, eating Angel Delight and playing Bejewelled Blitz don't count. We're dancing at nine thirty apparently - I didn't like to say that even on a Saturday night I would be seriously considering going to bed and reading my book by that time. I wish to keep whatever street cred I have deceitfully acquired. But I find it very hard to restrain my excitement about the event. It's not so much the performance itself - we're only performing three dances, and teaching three easy dances including a BARN DANCE (my life just gets cooler) - but only six of us are going, and the other five are all long-time members of the group and probably the best dancers, so I feel honoured to be asked as well. We're nicely symmetrical now too - three women and three men - so hopefully we'll be impressive to the audience and worth our wage.
Yesterday James and I went to see Tamara Drewe at the cinema, and it was excellent - so much better than I expected. Arguably the weakest part of the film is the actress playing the eponymous Tamara, but I think she's meant to be very annoying. I loved the scenery, the very British humour, the varied cast of characters who are all so real and amusing, and the way I was moved to tears and laughter at the very same time. James did say that it would also work very well as an ITV Sunday night drama, but we both agreed that it's one of the best films seen this year.
Today I had my pre-holiday hair cut which was very exciting for me. It's now very short, possibly shorter than I'd like, but it'll grow before I know it so I don't mind. I also cooked a lovely curry with lots of veg, and, very predictably, I have watched The Big Bang Theory, eaten Poptarts (out of milk for Angel Delight) and played a few games of Bejewelled Blitz. And now I'm going to bed!
I'm currently getting ready for my holiday - we fly out a week on Saturday - and am getting quite excited although it still seems a long way off. I need to book accommodation for Reykjavik (I've learnt to spell it!) and buy a new swimming costume as I somehow managed to lose the old one. There's lots of washing to be done before we go, and probably many other things that I won't remember until the day before. My friend Helen from work has lent me lots of interesting books about Iceland and every time I look at them I get more excited.
Last Thursday I had planned a quite evening of glass painting and relaxing, but while in work I was emailed by one of my walking friends and reminded that I had in fact agreed to go to the Royal Exchange theatre to see Dr Faustus for one of the half-price previews. So I met the others in Pizza Express and we had a long-overdue catch up on the gossip (one friend has a potential new boyfriend, and another might be quitting her job) before heading to the theatre. I had looked up the plot online while in work but was expecting the play to be quite dry and full of long speeches about the nature of goodness, but I was completely mistaken. The play was riveting, and produced in a very physical way, complete with ZOMBIE ARMY and illusions that would baffle David Blane (seriously: they decapitated a guy, then pulled off his leg, made objects on a table move without touching them, and produced Alexander the Great from under a sheet out of the Duke of Saxony). The first half was very long but we were all hooked on the action, however the second half was slightly more full of speeches about the nature of sin and goodness, and I'm ashamed to say that I dozed off at one point. (It was late!) I woke up for the famous line about Helen of Troy launching a thousand ships and the rather poignant end though. It was all totally worth it too - I heartily recommend the production if anyone is in Manchester in the next few weeks.
On Friday I finished off my glass painting while watching Almost Famous, and on Saturday morning I got the train out to Hebden Bridge to see the lovely Lorna of Leeds for our day out. We walked along the Rochdale Canal then along the Pennine Way up hill for a while, and had lunch sitting in a field overlooking the valley. We exchanged birthday presents (hers was in May, mine in November, so we're sort of in the middle) and griped about passive females in films, talked about our jobs, boyfriends and families, and generally got up to date on our lives. We detoured the walk into Heptonstall to check out the ruined church and the grave of Sylvia Plath, then headed back to Hebden Bridge for a well-deserved pub dinner. I had Pie of the Day which was awesome - lamb and mint. There should be more Pies of the Day.
I left her in the arms of her charming new beau after many plans were discussed for exciting literary trips in the future. I then spent my Saturday evening doing VERY LITTLE as I was surprisingly tired.
On Sunday I cleaned, then ate, then went to the gym, then cooked risotto. I like days of small accomplishments.
Then it was back to work, and the return of Alex from her holiday bringing with her lovely fudge from Cumbria and my motivation, which is good. We had a good long meeting about the recent developments in work and regarding my job. I did my presentation at the School Away Day last week, and it went really well - rather too well actually as now I have to do it again in front of the School Board meeting, as it includes lots of academic staff and hopefully the prospect of many more conferences coming my way. Yay? I'm feeling good about work at the moment though - I'm up to date with my emails, pretty much on top of my work, and now it's nearly term time it's livening up a bit in the office too. August is a slow month in the university, but a necessary one for us.
On Tuesday I went to line dancing and was asked if I would like to be one of the six dancers performing at the Manchester Law Society dinner in October. I restrained my 'HELL YES' response and agreed politely. 'You do know it's on a Saturday night?' I was asked. My initial response was a confused 'what else would I want to do on a Saturday night?' but then I realised that I was obviously expected to have some wild plans in place for my evenings, and apparently watching The Big Bang Theory, eating Angel Delight and playing Bejewelled Blitz don't count. We're dancing at nine thirty apparently - I didn't like to say that even on a Saturday night I would be seriously considering going to bed and reading my book by that time. I wish to keep whatever street cred I have deceitfully acquired. But I find it very hard to restrain my excitement about the event. It's not so much the performance itself - we're only performing three dances, and teaching three easy dances including a BARN DANCE (my life just gets cooler) - but only six of us are going, and the other five are all long-time members of the group and probably the best dancers, so I feel honoured to be asked as well. We're nicely symmetrical now too - three women and three men - so hopefully we'll be impressive to the audience and worth our wage.
Yesterday James and I went to see Tamara Drewe at the cinema, and it was excellent - so much better than I expected. Arguably the weakest part of the film is the actress playing the eponymous Tamara, but I think she's meant to be very annoying. I loved the scenery, the very British humour, the varied cast of characters who are all so real and amusing, and the way I was moved to tears and laughter at the very same time. James did say that it would also work very well as an ITV Sunday night drama, but we both agreed that it's one of the best films seen this year.
Today I had my pre-holiday hair cut which was very exciting for me. It's now very short, possibly shorter than I'd like, but it'll grow before I know it so I don't mind. I also cooked a lovely curry with lots of veg, and, very predictably, I have watched The Big Bang Theory, eaten Poptarts (out of milk for Angel Delight) and played a few games of Bejewelled Blitz. And now I'm going to bed!