sugarsugarsugarsugar

Broccoli is good for you. Especially if you eat an entire head of broccoli (steamed, with parmesan cheese). And then a bag of corn chips with salsa just for a bit of balance.

It's pretty much business as usual at the moment in London land. Walking to work in -4 degrees C isn't exactly my idea of fun but we manage somehow, it's not so bad because there's not much wind. Tonight there is supposed to be 10cm of snowfall in London which is the most in 16 years. Pity I left my truncheons at home!

I was supposed to be in Paris this week for training, but that unfortunately fell through due to a cock-up so it's been postponed until next month. Woohoo I can't wait to see Paris! I will probably take the weekend there too and come back Sunday night, to take proper advantage of my stay there. I'll hire a car and go for a bit of a drive and try my best not to get lost. Whee!

Nam-kem has been a little under loved lately. I haven't had a lot to say lately I guess. Originally this began is a bit of a travel journal, but since I'm relatively settled there isn't much to say travel-wise. What I'm saying is that nam-kem will probably continue but it will probably start to morph slightly. So stay tuned (I know you're still out there!).

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So what have I been up to lately? Well I've been making an effort of at least one meditation sit per day, and one group sit per week in town. Trying not to freeze my arse off on my way to work and blagging rides when I can. Once I get to work I've been busy performing big updates to the network at work (ie. breaking stuff and doing my best to fix it), which has been an exercise in patience and frustration.

Have started climbing once a week. I'm reading a bit but I keep putting my books down in strange places and losing them so I have 3 books on the go right now. Been downloading episodes of Battlestar Galactica and Heroes religiously as they come out, and cursing the fact that they come out too slowly. I've also been spending a bit of time lately getting to know a special little lady which has been really lovely. I went on a date! A real live date! We had Thai.

The plan at the moment is to get a normal Work Permit through my current job, and to enjoy the travel opportunities I receive through the job and save a bit of money. I have been thinking about taking some papers at uni part-time. Nothing too drastic just some arts papers, I'd like to explore my writing a bit.

So those of you in the southern hemisphere I hope you're making the most of the sun. Spare a thought for us in little old London.


Au reviour!
C.

Achoo

Hello.

Sitting here with a head full of what feels like cotton-wool and a lemon honey drink - the vital nip o' whiskey is missing due to my flattie devouring my entire bottle of Famous Grouse. I have taken the day off work due to a painful chest cold. Such is life!

Hence, I don't really feel like posting but I owe it to my loyal fans out there in internet land. Looking at the screen doesn't hurt my head as much as earlier today, so I'm looking at a glass half-full.

These last couple of weeks have been pretty interesting to say the least! The course was wonderful, extremely difficult, painful and very rewarding. Coming back to work has been an exercise in banging my head against the wall, yet slowly making progress with my little project. It snowed in London for the first time in 11 years. Plus I've made some new friends!

Muh. This is too difficult. More to come.

Love
C.

In brief

HI! Some points (in the order of my choosing):

• Leaving tomorrow for 10 days of sitting very very quietly in Wales. Planning to levitate home but have purchased return ticket just in case.
• Drove to Brighton at night on a whim (which I would later find out is the gay capital of England - although I could not find their parliament buildings). Walked out onto Brighton Pier through the amusement park which was closed for the evening and extremely creepy.
  
• New laptop already broken 1 day outside of full replacement guarantee. Currently under repairs. Hopefully this will fix the crunching noises and the not working.
• Have learnt how to tie three different rope-knots: the Figure-8 Follow-Through, the Stopper knot and the Clove-hitch. Can now also climb walls without getting into trouble. Card to prove it.
• Successfully stopped a fight between the German and the Italian. Fight caused by Italian's refusal to stop smoking cigarettes in the bathroom during his morning bowel excavation, having agreed a compromise to stop smoking in the kitchen. The German reasons his sense of smell will be greatly enhanced during his upcoming annual 5-day fast, and would not accept any compromises.
• New rules stipulated by the landlord state that the bathroom is now a non-smoking area.
• Italian appears constipated but not confirmed.
• German commences fast with the use of a laxative.
• New Years eve spent with friends wandering around London in an unsuccessful attempt to find an open pub. Beers sought at nearby off-licence and enjoyed by sitting at abandoned outdoor furniture. Watched fireworks from the bridge and didn't get trampled on by hoards of people. Gave my friends girlfriend a foot massage while he watched.
• Cooked my first roast dinner on Christmas day which I shared with my good friend Lawn. Got drunk on french champagne and Trappist ale. Saw Black Santa.
• Spent £6,000 (of my bosses money).
  
• Watched a pretty cool movie just now called Lucky Number Slevin. You should see it.
• Got a bit slack and didn't update my blog for a while. Posted some of my recent getting-up-to's in such a fashion that they sound exciting and debonair. Decided that it's not necessarily about what you do but how you look at it.

Don't worry if you don't manage to stick to your New Years resolutions as well as you think you ought to. I guess it's healthier to think of them as guidelines rather than hard and fast rules.

See you again in a couple of weeks. I'm off to confront my demons - yay!

Love
C.