Flaming Zinc

I have been struck down by a sudden case of Thursday night lethargy. I am really tired, I don’t feel like doing anything and I am having a serious crisis of pork.

Maybe I should have another coffee or perhaps a nap? That way I might make it to 9pm and CSI. I should be studying, or indulging in some household drudgery not lying on the sofa blogging (not that there is anything wrong with blogging as a diversion activity).

I’ll probably start to feel better, when I stop worrying about saturday night and the pig situation. We are having a few friends over for dinner. I foolishly suggested that I would make Nigella’s very yummy coke cola ham. I just have to source the ham. One problem associated with being a Johnny foreigner is that groceries are a little bit different here, some of the cuts of meat have slightly different names and it can all get a bit daunting. The online grocery store I usually use only does joints of ham starting at 20lbs, which I think is too much pig in any ones book. The posh deli, near work, didn’t even stock it. But, I think after some online investigating I can get what I want at a grocery store near my yoga studio. The only question is should I get the pork before or after downward dogging it tomorrow night?

Instead of going to yoga after work I indulged in an old fashion form of cardio, housework. My final visit to our old apartment, three and a half hours of elbow grease. I am well and truly cream crackered. I scrubbed the bath. I wiped away the odd orange residue that clung to the walls. I de-crumbed the freezer and washed out the dishwasher (I know that makes no sense). The list goes on, but I have run out of steam….

I would not wish to disappoint Daisy by not joining in with this literary mememe.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

I think I would want to be Lady Chatterly’s Lover, not only is it beautifully written but I would never be short of company!

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Oh, yes. I used to harbor a wee flame for Mr Rochester and Mr de Winter, but few years ago they were dethroned by Captain Wentworth.

The last book you bought:

I have a British Amazon parcel winging its way to me, that contains:

• Goddess, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Woman in Classical Antiquity
• Learn Ancient Greek
• Closer (the Patrick Marber play – I want to know what was left out of the film)

The last book you read:

Acqua Alta by Donna Leon, one of the Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries. A very enjoyable cosy read.

What are you currently reading?

I am ashamed to admit it, but yet again I have several books lurking on my bedside table. Starting from the top of the pile…. Les Liasons Dangereuses, In the footsteps of Alexander the Great, A Winter’s Tale, Portrait in Sepia and Middlemarch.

Five books you would take to a desert island:

Really I should take the five mentioned above, but in case I leave them behind on the bedside table I could make do with:

• The Quiet American by Graham Greene
• The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• A complete works of Jeeves and Wooster by PG Wodehouse
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Who will I pass it on to?

Whomever is interested, but I think that the Giver of Life needs to get a blog.

I am contemplating buying a moka coffee pot. I should be contemplating the Homeric style (delay tactics, epithet, ring style, etc), but I am distracted by my new budgeting project. I could save a small fortune each week if I made my own lattes rather than going to Starbucks. It is not just for monetary reasons that I am thinking of this solution, the nearest Starbucks is a two song walking distance from the new flat and generally over run by non-professional coffee drinkers, predominately in large groups and are slow to order (i.e. tourists). It is also, not en route from the subway station, so I have to go out of my way to pick up an evening coffee.

Other than that pressing dilemma, I am having a lovely lazy chocolate ridden Sunday. I’ve watched the Helen of Troy mini series (all four hours, it was very good), listening to A Caribbean Mystery via BBC7 and hitting the books. Alex afternoon has been spent battling zombies, n@zis or aliens (or perhaps it’s alien n@zi zombies??) and now is threatening to program the night away. Unless, that is, I can come up with something for us to watch, I have a sneaky suspicion that it maybe TNG. After two nights of Jonathan Creek, I think it just might be his turn to pick.

Excuse me as I get a little teary eyed as the torch is handed over. The rules are at Daisy’s place, and good luck.

Category:

Words: 4

A clue, this play was written by a chap who was married to a lady who famously only wore Chanel No. 5 to bed. Still not got it? Yet me know….

This was going to be a post about budgeting. How I need to buckled down and save for my course (fees due in May). So I should probably not be splashing out on a bought lunch everyday and buying little Easter eggs in Dean & Deluca. But, I had a nice letter waiting for me upon my return tonight, the results from my January exams…….an A in Sociology. Pat on the back time for me, and a dance on the kitchen table.

I know I have taken a very long wind route in going back to university. Taking another batch of A-levels as a taster of what might suit and a good test to see if I have the right stuff for academia again, wasn’t the path most people would choose. And I get the feeling that some of my friends and family think I’m a little barmy (well they’d be right). But, mostly I did it this way to prove to myself and Alex that going back to school is the right thing for me.

I remember roughly when I had the sudden brain wave that I could be contented if I did another degree and it might save my brain from fading away. It was a summer night in July 2003, I’d only been back in the states for a few weeks since going to London to have my wisdom teeth removed (before I get angry comments about NHS tourism – I’d been on the waiting list since 2000 and they were compacted and painful). It was hot and I couldn’t sleep. It probably didn’t help that I still couldn’t open my mouth very wide and that the left side of my tongue was numb. I was restless, hungry and grumpy (a powerful combination). I decided that the reason why I felt restless was because I hadn’t taken English A level (not the humidity, temperature or pain, but a profound lack of Chaucer). In my mind, at that moment in time, if I had studied a bit more poetry and sentence construction everything would be okay. I did what most rational people would do at 1am, I start surfing for distance learning A level courses. Because if I do English everything will be okay. I found the wonderful people at NEC, and the rest is history (well English Lit & Lang, Classics, Sociology and Economics).

In the past two years I have consistently being getting A’s and B’s, and I am going back to uni in the fall. To top that, and set my sights high, I am going to bloody well learn Ancient Greek, Latin, get at least a 2:1 and go onto grad school! Say hello to the 28 year old girl genius (yes, I will be slightly insufferable for the next few days).

I want to conjure an imagine for you, of how when I got home tonight I resembled an Austen-style heroine. No empire line dress, but in the style of a Dashwood or a Bennett girl I was ill prepared the for snowy/slushy storm that I was caught in, when running an unexpected errand for Alex. Throw in low blood sugar, and you get a damp, faint, very grumpy girl.

I’ve now had a hot shower and plate of pasta, and I can feel my equilibrium returning. Plus, Alex is promising to make me a hot beverage upon his return. This is a big thing, as he does not in general cater.

Not, half as exciting as it sounds (I promise). For one, the chiropractor is called Vanessa and two, she treats both of us. By having appointments on the same evening Alex gets to leave work early, or rather on time, and we get to go home together. I just love hanging out in the waiting area. After my adjustment I get to read Dr. V’s stash of Entertainment Weekly, whilst waiting for Alex to appear. It sounds rather sad, but when you are snatching time here and there, ignoring your spouse on the ride home is quite a nice thing.

Why ignore? Wouldn’t want to run out of conversation prior to getting home. I am wrapped up in my current read, and Alex has his new pda/phone/all-terrain-vehicle/dishwasher (surely the new kitchen sink?)…..

Sometimes I fear that I have the worse sense of direction going, and other times I am comforted by how well I remember the landmarks and am able to navigate unknown terrain. I think the cause of my bipolar disorder is the company I am keeping at the time. If I am learning a city on my own, or with the mother, then I pay attention and get a feel for the place. But, if I am with super husband then I switch off and tune out. The consequence is that I am a cautious explorer of New York. I like from 23rd Street up to the Central Park, as it is in the lovely grid system. For some weird reason I find it hard to locate north and south around 14th Street, and you can completely write off the downtown region. It is a vortex. A black hole. A mystery. My new home.

I finally got around to watching the Star Wars: Episode 3 trailer. I think it is impossible to quantify my excitement about this film. I do not indulge in bashing Episodes 1 & 2, I enjoyed them for what they are. I get confused by the fans who complained that they did not live up to their expectations and that they seemed to be aimed at children rather than them, shock horror!

I am counting down the days till the tickets go on sale. I just know that we’ll have to go and watch it opening night (and perhaps a few more times after that). I am only slightly older than the Star Wars franchise, they have been an important part of my life and the source of a nick name (“How original, no one has ever called me that before”). I first watched them as a kid on video, and wore the tape out with repeat viewing. As student in Manchester, I watched the re-released special editions in the cinema. Then, deep joy, Lucas decided to make episodes one to three. The release dates seemed very far off in the late nineties, but here we are in 2005 and we are at last going to see Anakin’s metamorphism into Vader.