I decided to go on a little adventure today. Well not really an adventure. I just went to the post office to pick up some mail I missed, then I went for a wander to my old flat to check everything was ok, then I wandered back home.
Along the way I came across piles of leaves. Despite the traffic and pedestrians who would inevitably see me, I decided to throw embarrassment to the wind and jump in them. And kick them. And pick up a few leaves that I liked to press in a book. Then I decided I would try to ‘walk the tightrope’ of the kerb. It was fun. And I got some nice leaves.
I love this time of year. I’ve wondered why a lot, but I can’t come to a conclusion. Is it genetic? Do some people find different seasons more appealing? I can appreciate the good points of spring (the flowers, the prospect of warmth) and the summer (the occasional hot day) but autumn and winter are where I feel comfortable. I’ve already noticed the chill in the air and it makes me feel nice – is that weird?
Whatever, I don’t really care. I think I am weird (yeah, it’s taken me a while to accept that) and if I’m honest, I’m past the point where that bothers me. If I had anything to lose I might be more reserved, but as I don’t, I have the opportunity to be exactly who I want to be and that’s not a pleasure that everyone has.
Every year I set out not to watch Big Brother and every year I eventually get hooked. This year I thought: Sod it, it’s the last year of BB, I may as well enjoy it and bugger what anyone else says.
So far it’s been really good. The most entertaining moment so far was about 5 minutes ago, when John James (so good they named him twice?) waved a white plastic cylinder and pondered, loudly, what its purpose was.
It’s a pineapple corer John James. You get them at Lakeland, along with mango slicers and strawberry hullers. I have all these items, and love their usefulness so much it has even made me a seasoned fruit buyer.
My dad often tells me about this teacher he had at school who used to get his words mixed up. I can’t remember what subject he taught – I think it was something like Latin or Irish or something. Anyway his classmates were a bit raucus from what I gather, and wound the teacher up something rotten. One day near Christmas the teacher lost his temper and yelled at them,
You have deliberately tasted one whole worm!
meaning, of course, to say “you have deliberately wasted one whole term”. I used to laugh my head off when my dad told me this as a kid, and it still brings me to a good hearty chuckle these days.
Anyhoo, a contact I have at another organisation sent me a link to a web cartoon yesterday evening. I laughed lots. So today I spent the entire morning today clicking ‘random’ to get more sketches. More laughs followed. My boss saw me giggling into my coffee and asked what I was looking at. I knew I was caught red handed, so showed him. He stifled a smile (being too big and serious to find maths jokes funny) and said, trying not to laugh,
Suzy, have you meant all spawning doing that?
That made me giggle more, and he marched off, losing the battle with his sense of humour. Sometimes little things can make my day a little bit brighter (if not more productive).
Furthermore, today I am wearing my cashmere jumper. This makes me warm, thus content – despite the fact I am in my horrid workplace and it is bucketing cats and dogs outside. Simple pleasures.
The past two days have been really warm. Today I walked into town wearing a linen shirt, denim skirt and plimsolls. I was roasting! The sky was cloudless and I could feel the sun burning my skin.
Usually I hide from warmth and the sun – I tend to prefer the dark and the rain – but I wondered: can’t I like both? I picked up some sunscreen (factor 30; I have celtic blood so I burn in 5 minutes) and arrived home, covered myself in lotion, and remembered how much I love the smell.
I have a really strong sense of smell, and sunscreen takes me back to summer holidays at home with my parents, and in Ireland, where the days seemed endless. Sometimes I forget how much pleasure I can get from simple things.
Of course, sod’s law loves me and now that I’m thoroughly protected from UVA and UVB damage, the clouds are rolling in. Oh well. I’m happy enough sitting indoors sniffing my skin and remembering family holidays on the beach.
Tory-bashing. It’s brilliant. I’ve never been one to shy away from mouthing off about politics, but it has never been so satisfying as coming up with new and wonderfully insulting ways to talk about our Con-Dem Government.
It’s all over the papers too. The Grauniad is particularly good at it. I’ve spent many an hour chuckling at articles poking fun at the Con-Dems. I’ll post links soon; there are many articles which are worth investigating!
In the mean time, I’ll try and make Tory-bashing the silver lining on the rubbish election results. Hopefully it will entertain me for 5 years…
