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Friday, June 20th, 2008
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11:15 am - To anyone who has my mobile number...
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Send me a text message with your name in it please, because I just got a (shiny shiny purple!) new phone and they couldn't transfer my contacts across because my old phone was so old LOL!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Sunday, December 16th, 2007
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5:54 pm - Pub!
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| Sunday, July 8th, 2007
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8:46 am - Last Minute Begging
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I'm doing Race for Life this morning, in memory of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) deano977's Dad, an all round top bloke who is much missed, and also for my Mum, who has had and beaten cancer twice now. So if any of you have a spare penny you could give...
Sponsor me here!
I'm also dedicating this run to beelady. Thinking of you babe. (Don't panic, Bees doesn't have cancer, this one is hers for other reasons.)
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
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12:16 am - Oli and Tish's Wedding
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| Friday, December 15th, 2006
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8:03 am - Reminder!
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| Monday, December 11th, 2006
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12:09 am - Birthday! Pub!
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| Wednesday, November 15th, 2006
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5:45 pm - Weeeeee!
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This entry is brought to you courtesy of Starlight, my shiny new toy :-)
current mood:  bouncy
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 19th, 2006
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10:55 pm - Great South Run
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Look out for me this weekend :-)
Edit
The link stopped working, so...Channel 5, 23:50, Sunday 22nd :-)
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 17th, 2006
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2:15 pm - Update
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So, I'm back in the UK...
India was hard. There's a lot of ranting pent up inside, so be warned if you talk to me, I might go off on one. It's difficult to explain why it was so tough, because it wasn't any one thing and on a short term stay it would probably be fine. But day after day, week after week it brings you down. I didn't realise just how low I felt until I got back to the UK and began to pick up again. I didn't sleep properly for months.
There was good stuff though - I wouldn't have survived without the visitors we did have (and the friends online who kept me sane), and the bits of the country outside Bangalore that I did see were mostly lovely. It was definitely an experience, and there are bits of it I do miss and will look back on fondly. Lounging on a houseboat through the backwater canals of Kerala, watching riverbank life drift by, surrounded by coconut palms and paddy fields. Cycling through the amazing boulder-strewn landscape of Hampi. Drinking too much champagne at Taj West End. Winning the fitness contest. Hopping on and off buses halfway across Karnataka with the help of friendly locals to discover isolated and amazing carved temples. The wildlife - living among geckos, bats, parrots and chipmunks, not to mention the stunning pariah and brahminy kites circling the sky. Being warm. Eating out in restaurants whenever the whim took us. Golden Palms Spa Resort. I'm so glad to be home though :-)
Leaving was stressful - all very last minute and panicky, so much to sort out and get done. There were tears and tantrums. India is hard, but India on your own when you are upset and need to get things done NOW is even worse. The shipping people were pretty useless and made what was already a bad time far far worse. Unfortunately, because of a strike, I got home one day later than otherwise would've happened, and as it turns out that was one day too late. I'm really sad that I never had a chance to say goodbye to someone who will be much missed.
It's funny the things I missed though. Outdoor running and racing of course. Pubs. Friends. Family. Fish and chips. Sausage and mash. Proper roast dinner. Decent wine. But also sunsets, the smell of petrol on a garage forecourt, twilight, cold breeze, wild wet Autumn evenings, wearing big boots, leather and velvet, satin sheets, supermarkets. And quiet. No car horns. No constant stream of buses and lorries. No dogs barking, men shouting and phones constantly ringing. Air you can breathe in without feeling ill. Familiar vegetation. Birds chirping. Grey cloudy skies and drizzle. Mist.
I wasn't me in India, I was someone else, dressing differently, talking differently, behaving differently. I'm getting back to the real me slowly. I was halfway there when I spent the week in Nantwich, but back in Cambridge I'll go the rest of the way. I'm not going straight back to work this week or probably next - need to sort stuff out in the house and just get over it really. I'm off for a wee holiday by the seaside this weekend (got a last minute entry into the Great South Run and a friend who doesn't mind me inviting myself over...) so hopefully that should refresh me. Indian insomnia seems to have come home with me though - slept a bit last night but Sunday night was dreadful, lying awake with my mind racing, my head spinning, my heart hammering in my chest and blood pumping in my ears. I guess there's stuff on my mind that will sort itself given enough time.
current mood:  tired
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, October 6th, 2006
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12:55 am - Going Home
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| Monday, September 18th, 2006
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12:52 pm
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Nasty dreams last night. Forced to listen to unspeakably fluffy Wannadies to try and erase the images of my own execution from my head :-(
current mood:  weird
current music: Wannadies - ball
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Friday, September 15th, 2006
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4:06 pm
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Yesterday evening, I was walking home. It had just stopped raining, and the sound of running water was everywhere as the roads turned into little rivers, splitting and joining in minature braids and deltas, making swirling patterns in red sand. Everything smelt fresh and clean, the dampness subdued the dust and pollution for a while. The palm trees looked greener than usual, and that big tree with the enormous red flowers on positively sparkled. A few brightly dressed parrots sat at the very top of the tree, celebrating the end of the rain and having one last squawk before bedtime. And for the first time in India, I felt a kind of easy contentment. Not the excitement of being in a new place, or the overt happiness of a night out or a visit from friends, but just a basic, homely feeling of stuff being OK actually.
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, September 11th, 2006
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2:01 pm - I would run 500 miles...
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And I would run 500 more
Just to be the girl who ran a 1000 miles
In 2006 :-)
And there's still 3 1/2 months to go...
current mood:  accomplished
current music: The Proclaimers in my head
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, September 8th, 2006
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3:27 pm - Day 100
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| Wednesday, September 6th, 2006
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12:48 pm
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I'm a bit behind the times here, but I like this quote from the Guardian about England's match against Greece.
"Frank Lampard finally tuned his banjo to the same frequency as a cow's backside."
current mood:  amused
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(comment on this)
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12:28 pm - I won!
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| Thursday, August 10th, 2006
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2:18 pm
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| Monday, August 7th, 2006
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4:15 pm - Update
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The mystery of the disappearing fruit has finally been solved.
This morning one of the staff burnt some milk, so all the doors were open to get rid of the vile smell. Apparently a monkey came in through the kitchen/back/utility door, knocked over the rather expensive fruit bowl, grabbed a bunch of about 10-12 bananas and ran off with them :-)
The mystery of the missing trousers has also been solved, although in a less amusingly cute fashion.
They have finally been returned - most of the fabric is bobbled/rough as if they've been boil-washed and there are two big rips and a melted patch on one of the legs :-( It seems that having trashed my trousers, the laundry have tried to hide it by claiming they never had them. The thing is, if, 2 or 3 days after I sent them, they'd returned them saying 'we're really sorry we ruined your trousers' I would've been a bit upset, yes, but these things happen. I've put a hot iron through synthetic clothes myself, it's easy to do. That would've been the end of it. What grates is the dishonesty - trying to hide it for two weeks until poor Balu had to go there himself and retrieve the ravaged article. So I still intend to get the money to replace them - they aren't any good as decent trekking trousers now, although they'll do for gardening/decorating.
The good news is that the football shirt that was a present from his dad has been returned to deano977, unscathed :-)
No further traumas to report, unless you count my toenail, which is purple. Again. It had only just grown back, and I've wrecked it already. I simply cannot be trusted with my own feet it seems. Dan's girlfriend is staying with us which has been fun, and Ashok the noisy house 'boy' seems to have been replaced by a guy who never really says anything. My hand towel tantrum seems to have resulted in a regular supply of hand towels (which may just be coincidence), and finally, the University have confirmed that it is OK for me to withdraw because I am no longer living within 10 miles of Cambridge (it's a bit late to stop me now...). All I need to do is fill in a form to be reinstated when I am ready to submit, so officially I am now without a deadline too. Apparently 33% of all PhDs are never finished - I do NOT intend to add to that statistic.
current mood:  hot
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
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6:05 pm
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It is said that smells are very effective at bringing past places and events back to life.
I'm sure that's true, but for me it works better with sounds, or more precisely, music.
The tunes I happily bounced around the kitchen to while cooking dinner after a great run.
The songs I remember drunkedly dancing to on my hen night.
The first track I put on my CD player the very first time Deano came back to my college room.
Next time I'm miserable tell me to turn the volume up. And pray for a lack of power cuts!
current mood: alive
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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3:30 pm - *deep breath*
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Feeling better.
Had a little tantrum yesterday, in the privacy of the bedroom where no-one could see. Then did what all runners do when they are unhappy. They run. I know I said I didn't want to, but I decided to ignore that idea and do it anyway. 20km later my body was wrecked but my head felt much better :-)
This morning was spent in the opulent Library Bar at Leela Palace, sipping chamomile tea, reading the Guardian and talking to Leanne, a lovely Australian lady who always gives me a little hug or rub on the shoulder and has a voice that positively *smiles*. She also hates all things Bangalore and has all the same stuff going on I do, so it stops that all alone feeling.
Now I'm adopting lovelyoliver's approach to life by sitting around in my pants. I intend to watch some cricket and sort some photos so I can share what I got up to in the last two weeks...
current mood:  okay
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(comment on this)
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confused
lonely