2011 Review Thingo

Posted on December 31, 2011 by shauna

(with 2009 and 2010 answers as well)

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

2009 - Competed in a kickboxing tournament (v. unsuccessfully), went on the telly, became a UK citizen, grew tomatoes and salad leaves, bought a house.
2010 - Visited Italy and Los Angeles, made a souffle, grew parsnips, got counselling. A low key kind of year to be honest.
2011 - Started a business, made jam, grew beetroot, made rhubarb wine, went to Belgium, spoke at a blogging conference, rode a bike in Paris, made crumpets, road in a "bike race"!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?

2009 - I resolved to 1) exercise 20 mins a day 2) write down what I eat 3) internet curfew of 10.30pm. About 37% success. My resolution for 2010 is to do more stuff that I enjoy. That is all.
2010 - Success! Aim low, hit target. Definitely made time to do more stuff that I enjoy. Also ate more stuff that I enjoyed. Just too bloody much!
2011 - Kept them like a mofo for the first six months then kinda lost my way for awhile. Back on track now. They're more Good Habits for Life rather than resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

2009 - My foxy work colleague, Lorraine.
2010 - No but 95% of my lady friends got pregnant!
2011 - Lorraine again. And other work colleagues. And lots of school pals. The baby avalanche continues.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

2009 - My great uncle Gordon passed away. He was a lovely man.
2010 - No. Unless you count Peter Pan the sponsor dog!
2011 - No. And no Sponsor Dogs died either, for a change!

5. What countries did you visit?

2009 - Australia and USA
2010 - Italy, France and USA
2011 - Belgium, Italy, France and USA

6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked in this one?

2009 - A clearer mind!
2010 - Focus, drive and, self-belief and the ability to remain calm under pressure.
2011 - Consistency!

7. What dates from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

2009 - Thursday 22 January. Last day in New York. Killer cookie from Levain Bakery.
2010 - That San Francisco Saturday with Jillian & Greg. Sushi, booze, cards, brief sail on the bay.
2011 - The first day of the Fitbloggin conference - meeting blog pals in a jetlagged euphoria.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

2009 - Growing tomatoes!
2010 - Pretty lame old year in the field of achievement. Hosting the cupcake party, I'll say, for sheer joy of it.
2011 - Starting Up and Running. It blows my mind every time I log on to our forum and see all these amazing women running around and kicking arse in a little corner of the internet that we created. Also reading 52 books in 52 weeks after years of trying to hit that dumbarse target.

9. What was your biggest failure?

2009 - Ignoring my health.
2010 - Being reactive rather than proactive.
2011 - Working too much on the weekend.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

2009 - The big D.
2010 - Continued big D and 6 seperate colds. Did not eat enough veggies this year it seems.
2011 - Just my stupid knee still being a bastard. Almost made it through cold-free until a rotten one right before Christmas.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

2009 - iStuff 808 Bass Sound Isolating Earphones - only £16.99 to totally drown out snotty noses and rubbish banter on public transport! I heartily endorse!
2010 - Bargain spinning bike so we can exercise indoors when the weather is shithouse.
2011 - A decent hairdryer

12. Where did most of your money go?

2009 - Airfares to Australia and deposit for Crooked House.
2010 - Shrink fees.
2011 - Four new windows and a back door. Honestly the most fucking boring purchase in my life. But nice to have windows that don't leak when it rains.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

2009 - The sausage and onion pie from SimpleSimon Pies.
2010 - Wallander! I got just a wee bit obsessive about this Swedish detective and his various incarnations on the telly.
2011 - The Killing! And this here Kvikk Lunsj chocolate bar that Gareth brought back from Norway. Wonder if I'll get excited about anything in 2012 that isn't either edible or Scandinavian!?

14. What song will always remind you of this year?

2009 - Hocus Pocus. Gareth dragged me along to a Focus gig - Dutch prog yodelling ahoy.
2010 - All the songs on Dusty Live From Memphis.
2011 - Sadness Is A Blessing by Lykki Li. Also my box of CDs finally arrived from Oz and I became addicted to Different Class all over again.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?

2009 - I was sadder, but i'm doing something about it, so much happier now!
2010 - Happier!
2011 - I don't really like this happy/sad simplification coz life is always light and shade. But I'm more content and better at dealing with the shitty bits.

b) thinner or fatter?

2009 - Fatter, but again doing something about it.
2010 - Fatter, again. Obviously did not do enough about it!
2011 - Marginally thinner. Which means still chunkier than I want to be, but really pleased with how it's going.

c) richer or poorer?

2009 - Poorer financially due to mortgage shackles. But feeling very lucky and appreciative to have a good life and know so many groovy people.
2010 - About the same!
2011 - About the same, but those bloody windows didn't help.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

2009 - Look after my mental health. Fun outings with Dr G. Travel. I've not been anywhere Euro since 2007! (shitey work trip doesn't count
2010 - Take photos.
2011 - Gardening. It's a jungle out there.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

2009 - Worrying about what other people think.
2010 - Panicking. Overeating. Excuse making.
2011 - Staying up too late on a school night.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

2009 - Rhi and the in-laws are coming to Crooked House! There will be feasting and port.
2010 - Same! Christmas was even better this year thanks to better planning and advance preparation. The timings of the food were perfect on the big day, too. I dunno why that gives me such pleasure. Also: provided entertainment this year in the form of Billionaire card game. So much fun.
2011 - Same! But with introduction of Jamie Oliver's Jerk ham. Bloody beautiful! We also started a new Christmas Even tradition: "Early Edible Present". Despite my obsessive planning I'd not bought anything in the Snacks To Eat While Watching Cheesy Christmas Movies category. So we raided the Christmas stockings for one tasty ration each.

19. Did you fall in love this year?

2009 - Yes, with my cherry tomatoes! And more in love with Dr G. We have both had a real stinker of a 2009 in many respects but we kept each other trucking along.
2010 - Still diggin' the G Man.
2011 - With Barney, my Kindle! Gareth also got a Kindle this year and called it Kevin "Bloody" Kindle which never fails to crack me up when I see it on the screen.

20. What was your favorite TV program?

2009 - The Thick of It
2010 - Mad Men
2011 - The Killing! The Danish one, tak you very much.

21. What was the best book you read?

2009 - Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
2010 - A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
2011 - Didn't really have a particular favourite this year.

22. What was your favorite film of this year?

2009 - Didn't see too many good films, but some oldies I saw for the first time and loved were Blade Runner and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
2010 - Only saw Inception (nae bad) and Sex and the City 2 (urgh) at the cinema. Favourite LoveFilm rental was Etre et Avoir and also finally saw Gladiator which was ace.
2011 - I saw five movies at the cinema this year: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (nae bad), The Lavender Hill Mob (classic), Bridesmaids (great), Whisky Galore (ace) and It's A Wonderful Life (blubbed like a baby). ET was on the telly on Christmas Eve and I blubbed at that too!

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

2009 - I went to the BBC Good Food show in Glasgow then I scrubbed the walls of our putrid house. I turned 32.
2010 - I went to work! But the weekend before I had a spa day, dinner with the inlaws at a great pub, and dinner at Chop Chop with Rhi and Dr G. Was 33.
2011 - Work again. Gareth took me out for a fancy dinner. It was lovely but we absconded to a cheaper place for pudding!

24. What kept you sane?

2009 - Kickboxing and the addictive genius of SJ and the Egg's brilliant FYCL podcast.
2010 - Books.
2011 - Books again, but on the Kindle. I love having that instant escape in my handbag at all times.

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

2009 - Peter Capaldi. Loved him shouty sweary on The Thick Of It and loved him rambling on as he drew little sketches on that documentary about Scottish art.
2010 - Was a pretty quiet year on the celebrity crush front. Quite fancied Don Draper for awhile there but it's on the wane.
2011 - I quite fancied Strange in The Killing II. For awhile!

26. Who did you miss?

2009 - Everyone in Australia, especially Peita, Jane and Jen Dog.
2010 - Same!
2011 - Same again.

27. Who was the best new person you met?

2009 - Alison, a sage and hilarious arsekicker
2010 - A whole tribe of Girl Geeks.
2011 - Julia, in person at last, and a few hundred Up & Runners.

Giddyup!

Ten Years Later

Posted on December 9, 2011 by shauna

November 30, 2001: I completed Not The Greatest Story Ever Told, my shithouse NaNoWriMo "novel":

November 30, 2011: I finished Not The Greatest Story Ever Told II!

nano2011

There's been a major word drought since I wrote that book. I've oscillated between "what kind of dickhead writes about themselves like that?" over-exposed deer-in-headlights-let's-hide-from-the-world-forever terror, and the "you're no writer, you just got lucky coz there weren't many Fat Girl Loses Lard memoirs at the time and now you got NOTHING!" feelings of utter fraudulence.

As a result everything I've written over the past four years has been torn up in a huff. That is, when I managed to write anything at all. I've pretty much been too shitscared to even try.

In late October there were the usual NaNoWriMo mutterings on Twitter and I realised it was ten years since I last completed the 50,000 words in 30 days madness. I thought I'd give it another go. I confessed my plans to my pal Naomi, who I got to know this year through Up & Running. She is a proper author of multiple novels! She was awesomely encouraging and said, "Just make sure you don't make this another stick to beat yourself up with".

She used a great running analogy: I'd been doing the writing equivalent of sitting on the couch - feck all activity for years. Going straight into a novel would be like going straight from the couch to marathon training. I understood perfectly - knowing me, I'd push too hard too soon and bust my writerly joints, declare it all too much, then wind up back on the couch doing nowt!

She had a cool idea that was more like training for a 5K - she kindly sent me a copy of A Writer's Book Of Days, a book of daily writing prompts. So instead of a terrible novel, I wrote terrible short stories in November.

I guess that means it doesn't really count as a NaNoWriMo effort, but to me it felt like a bloody huge triumph. The writing was so bad I'd snort at the screen with laughter, but I remembered what we always say to our 5K Course runners: don't worry about the quality of the workout - the goal is simply to get the fucker done.

Since November I've kept up the daily prompts. I have no goal in mind other than to just keep writing and keep building the muscle. Who knows what happens after that but it's a good start. I'm also approximately 137% less grumpy now that I'm writing again.

The Big Galah

Posted on August 24, 2011 by shauna

Another dispatch from The Mothership as she continues her caravan trek into Australia's centre. She's just been to Kimba, located halfway across Australia apparently:

Kimba is famous for its Big Galah, lovely sandstone buildings and as the birthplace of “Cats” midfielder, Corey Enright. Can’t ask much more of a town of around 800 people. Oh, did I mention that you can buy a pair of jeans for $2, a collarless shirt for $1, a paperback mystery novel for 10c, home-grown lemons for 5c each or a like-new dressing gown (Giovanni) for $2? You can get all this and more from the Uniting Church Op Shop.

We left Kimba on Tuesday morning and on the way out of town, we visited the Big Galah. I’m not sure what it is about us Aussies that creates ‘Big Things’ around the country… maybe our Big Skies, Big Spaces, Big Coastlines etc have something to do with it.

An invitation across the nation

Posted on August 10, 2011 by shauna

Last night was Census night in Australia and some of my pals back home were amused that the online form had an option to post to Twitter that you'd completed it. Equally thrilling, I submitted our electricity meter reading on the phone and was invited to Share it on Facebook:

I don't know what to say about all the rioting down south. I think we need more of this kind of behaviour in the streets:

Bouncer

Posted on July 31, 2011 by shauna

The Mothership, recently retired from teaching, is currently on an epic caravan voyage to the Outback with her husband Ray. I've just received this dispatch from Berri, South Australia:

"Yesterday morning whilst I was enjoying my rolled oats, I was fortunate enough to witness a lovely sight – a black and white border collie, tail waving enthusiastically, accompanying an ‘original’ Aussie bloke (think shorts, tummy and thongs) on his walk. The dog was full of life, not pulling on his lead, but bouncing along on three legs. The rear right side leg was missing. I figure I need to remember my own blessings and bounce through life more often."

The maturing music lover

Posted on February 22, 2011 by shauna

Last night I went to a Mogwai gig and sat in the Old People's Seats.

For the past couple of years I've been fighting the urge to sit down at gigs. I remember when we went to see Radiohead with my pals Jane and Rory in 2003 and they had seated tickets. I thought they were craaaazy! How could you not want to be right down the front, gazing straight up the nostrils of your idols, with strange, sweaty strangers pressing against you and/or sloshing lager all over your head. What's not to love?!

Hmm, yes. Well, I blame the Picture House in Edinburgh for speeding my descent into middle age. It has this great upstairs bit with plush benches to sit on that have a perfect view of the stage. The first time I went to a gig there I was in the standing area. I kept looking back up at the Seated People and thinking, Man. My feet hurt.

Last year we were back there to see Gary Numan. I didn't know feck all about Gary Numan except for Here in my car, blah blah blah blah so I reasoned: It's not like I'm an actual Gary Numan fan, so it's acceptable if I sit down on the comfy seats, just this once. Its only fair to leave more room for the true Numan lovers down the front of the stage.

But when we arrived at the Picture House last night I made a beeline for the stairs. In fact I made Gareth eat his dinner very quickly because I feared the comfy seats would go quick. AND I WAS RIGHT. We got there half an hour after doors opened and we only just managed to nab a spot on the sweet, comfy, lovely, cushioned benches.

Mogwai have been my pet band for a wee while now. Gareth was always been the big fan and had to coax me along to their Usher Hall a few years ago. He warned that they'd be loud but I did not expect to feel like my lungs had been hurled against my ribcage; the floor vibrating like a tractor beneath my feet. I wanted to diiiie. But they really grew on me and I became a big nerdy fan and have have seen them four times since. They are just hilarious and huge and foxy and loud and they tweet what they eat and did I mention they're really fucking loud.

ANYWAY I remember thinking when I was down the front at one gig a wee while back, I wonder if they band can see us? I wonder what it feels like to be in a band for years and years and years, and you started out seeing all these young, sexy faces in the front row then over time it becomes a sea of baldy heads and people who came along still in their work clothes? Are you cool with that because the fans still love you, and you're not as young as you used to be either? Or do you pine for the days of the young sexy faces? I wonder.

Last night I discovered there is a downside to the cosy seats. Sure you are comfortable, and you do not get bruised or shoved or have a plastic cup crushed against your skull, but you do get mature blokes intent on recording a whole song holding up their stupid little Flip video cameras right in your line of vision. PUT IT DOWN OLD TIMER. And said bloke is so excited to have a night away from the kids he insists on making the most of it by chugging a pint every fifteen minutes and having to get up between every song to go to the loo, for fuck's sake not AGAIN you incontinent bugger.

So the music was exhilarating and so very very very delightfully loud and today I still have that post-gig delirium where your whole body buzzes and you just feel glad to be alive. I don't think it matters how old you are or where you sit, if the music moves you, it's all good.

Things I miss about Australia

Posted on January 26, 2011 by shauna

Happy Australia Day! I nicked this idea from the lovely Kathryn in Japan.

Friends and family, derr.
Hamburgers with the lot
Mint Slice biscuits
Proper thunderstorms
Cafés that have great breakfasts* and open late**
Dogs on the back of utes (especially brown kelpies with golden eyebrows)
Chocolate thickshakes
Sprawling starry skies, best viewed from a flat country town
Top Deck, Cherry Ripes and Violet Crumbles
Garages that cars actually can fit in to
Scribbly gums
Chicken salad rolls from small town bakeries, assembled while you wait!
Apple turnovers with cream, from aforementioned small town bakeries (ooh yeah)
Galahs and white cockatoos strolling along the median strip (what do you call that green grassy bit up the middle of a road that you get in a place like Canberra!? where is my brain? thank you Stella for the reminder!)
Rage
The smell of rain hitting the dirt when it hasn't rained for ages
Mango Weiss bars
Mount Panorama
Bread tags
Driving in a straight line for a very long time.

How sad that the majority of this list is FOOD.

* There are plenty of great cafés in Edinburgh that have nice brekkies but you don't get quite the same variety of ideas and ingredients. Out here in Dunfermline a bacon roll from Gregg's is about the extent of your choices Breakfast is SO good in Australia. I love an American brunch or a British cooked breakfast but the Aussie cafés take bits of those with influences from other places and make morning time MAGIC, I tells ya!

** Specifically I miss going out for coffee and cake after weeknight movie like we used to do in Canberra at somewhere like Gus' or Cafe Essen. Here in Scotland we have some great cafés but not many open late. If you go to a movie, you go to the pub afterwards. I don't want to do that on a school night! I've told my Scottish pals about these mystical late night cafés and they say, "What's wrong with the pub? You should like that, you're Australian!".

Yeah yeah. I always wonder if I got a consortium of expats together to open such a café, would it die on its arse? Or could we persuade that there's an alternative to the pub and kebab combo?

2010 Review Thingo

Posted on December 31, 2010 by shauna

(with last year's answers as well)

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
2009 - Competed in a kickboxing tournament (v. unsuccessfully), went on the telly, became a UK citizen, grew tomatoes and salad leaves, bought a house.

2010 - Visited Italy and Los Angeles, made a souffle, grew parsnips, got counselling. A low key kind of year to be honest.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next this year?
2009 - I resolved to 1) exercise 20 mins a day 2) write down what I eat 3) internet curfew of 10.30pm. About 37% success. My resolution for 2010 is to do more stuff that I enjoy. That is all.

2010 - Success! Aim low, hit target. Definitely made time to do more stuff that I enjoy. Also ate more stuff that I enjoyed. Just too bloody much!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
2009 - My foxy work colleague, Lorraine.

2010 - No but 95% of my lady friends got pregnant!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
2009 - My great uncle Gordon passed away. He was a lovely man.

2010 - No. Unless you count Peter Pan the sponsor dog!

5. What countries did you visit?
2009 - Australia and USA

2010 - Italy, France and USA.

6. What would you like to have next year that you lacked in this one?
2009 - A clearer mind!

2010 - Focus, drive and, self-belief and the ability to remain calm under pressure.

7. What dates from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2009 - Thursday 22 January. Last day in New York. Killer cookie from Levain Bakery.

2010 - That San Francisco Saturday with Jillian & Greg. Sushi, booze, cards, brief sail on the bay.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2009 - Growing tomatoes!

2010 - Pretty lame old year in the field of achievement. Hosting the cupcake party, I'll say, for sheer joy of it.

9. What was your biggest failure?
2010 - Ignoring my health.

2010 - Being reactive rather than proactive.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
2009 - The big D.

2010 - Continued big D and 6 seperate colds. Did not eat enough veggies this year it seems.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
2009 - iStuff 808 Bass Sound Isolating Earphones - only £16.99 to totally drown out snotty noses and rubbish banter on public transport! I heartily endorse!

2010 - Bargain spinning bike so we can exercise indoors when the weather is shithouse.

12. Where did most of your money go?
2009 - Airfares to Australia and deposit for Crooked House.

2010 - Shrink fees.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
2009 - The sausage and onion pie from SimpleSimon Pies.

2010 - Wallander! I got just a wee bit obsessive about this Swedish detective and his various incarnations on the telly.

14. What song will always remind you of this year?
2009 - Hocus Pocus. Gareth dragged me along to a Focus gig - Dutch prog yodelling ahoy.

2010 - All the songs on Dusty Live From Memphis.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
2009 - I was sadder, but i'm doing something about it, so much happier now!
2010 - Happier!

b) thinner or fatter?
2009 - Fatter, but again doing something about it.
2010 - Fatter, again. Obviously did not do enough about it!

c) richer or poorer?
2009 - Poorer financially due to mortgage shackles. But feeling very lucky and appreciative to have a good life and know so many groovy people.

2010 - About the same!

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
2009 - Look after my mental health. Fun outings with Dr G. Travel. I've not been anywhere Euro since 2007! (shitey work trip doesn't count

2010 - Take photos.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
2009 - Worrying about what other people think.
2010 - Panicking. Overeating. Excuse making.

18. How will you spend Christmas?
2009 - Rhi and the in-laws are coming to Crooked House! There will be feasting and port.

2010 - Same! Christmas was even better this year thanks to better planning and advance preparation. The timings of the food were perfect on the big day, too. I dunno why that gives me such pleasure. Also: provided entertainment this year in the form of Billionaire card game. So much fun.

19. Did you fall in love this year?
2009 - Yes, with my cherry tomatoes! And more in love with Dr G. We have both had a real stinker of a 2009 in many respects but we kept each other trucking along.

2010 - Still diggin' the G Man.

20. What was your favorite TV program?
2009 - The Thick of It
2010 - Mad Men

21. What was the best book you read?
2009 - Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner
2010 - A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

22. What was your favorite film of this year?
2009 - Didn't see too many good films, but some oldies I saw for the first time and loved were Blade Runner and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

2010 - Only saw Inception (nae bad) and Sex and the City 2 (urgh) at the cinema. Favourite LoveFilm rental was Etre et Avoir and also finally saw Gladiator which was ace.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
2009 - I went to the BBC Good Food show in Glasgow then I scrubbed the walls of our putrid house. I turned 32.

2010 - I went to work! But the weekend before I had a spa day, dinner with the inlaws at a great pub, and dinner at Chop Chop with Rhi and Dr G. Was 33.

24. What kept you sane?
2009 - Kickboxing and the addictive genius of SJ and the Egg's brilliant FYCL podcast.

2010 - Books.

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
2009 - Peter Capaldi. Loved him shouty sweary on The Thick Of It and loved him rambling on as he drew little sketches on that documentary about Scottish art.

2010 - Was a pretty quiet year on the celebrity crush front. Quite fancied Don Draper for awhile there but it's on the wane.

26. Who did you miss?
2009 - Everyone in Australia, especially Peita, Jane and Jen Dog.

2010 - Same!

27. Who was the best new person you met?
2009 - Alison, a sage and hilarious arsekicker

2010 - A whole tribe of Girl Geeks.

Phew!

Vale Peter Pan

Posted on December 24, 2010 by shauna

We're not having much luck with these Dog's Trust Sponsor Dogs. First Kenco perished in a kennel brawl and now it seems his replacement Peter Pan is no more.

We hadn't heard a peep from Peter Pan in almost a year and instead kept getting updates about a dog called Samuel. I thought there'd been a mix-up at the Dog's Trust, as Samuel is the dog I sponsored for my sister last Christmas. We were going to finally sort it out today and phone up the dog and ask, "Oi, Pan. Where's our letters, you wee bugger?"

Luckily we checked the website first and saw the tragic IN LOVING MEMORY banner on his profile.

It doesn't say what happened to him, but from his messages it looks like he departed over a year ago. No wonder he'd been quiet. No doubt we must missed the letter informing us of his demise during all our house moves last year.

Looking at his profile, he was over ten years old, which is a pretty decent run. I hope he had a good life. I can't tell from this picture if he is squinting in the sun or if he was giving someone the stink eye.

Whatever happened it's a sad day. But we will fully embrace Samuel now. I can't resist a dog with ginger eyebrows. According to his Christmas card, he's a real foodie who battles with his weight and has just been on a regime to get him lighter on his paws. I think we're going to get on brilliantly.

What we have here is a failure to reverberate

Posted on December 20, 2010 by shauna

I hate giving up on these things and as chuffed as I was to be a lucky prompt author, I must admit I am Reverb-ed out. I don't know what part of "reflect on this year and manifest on what's next" I failed to grasp beforehand but it has been just a wee bit too introspective for me. I know I've kept a public blog for ten years which is an extremely indulgent habit, but to put your nose so directly into your navel day after day feels bloody awful and I fear I'll alienate the remaining ten readers.

If a prompt pops up that doesn't make me feel like I'm either being a middle-class whingebag and/or a dirty show-off about how deeelightful my year was, I might crack off a post but otherwise in the words of Duncan Bannatyne, ah'm oot.

Somewhere in Rome!

What's New, Pussycat?

Consistently inconsistent since 2000