"Women are like ginger: the older they get, the hotter they are." - my current favourite Chinese saying

1) whilst paying for tea and biscuits for work this morning, I asked for £10.00 cashback. According to the till receipt it was 8.51am and neither myself nor the cashier were "awake" as I wasn't handed the money and I didn't think about it until I got into the office and thought to myself "my already very lightweight wallet feels distinctly lighter than I would expect it to feel after a trip to Tesco that involved asking for cashback..." I called the store immediately and am now looking forward to a potentially stressful and unpleasant "conversation" with the store manager on my way home.

2) I really, really, really, REALLY hate having my (real life) name shortened. The new girl at work started to do it when she first arrived, and I tried to nip it in the bud but I think it had already become an unconscious habit for her and she still uses my shortened name every now and then. And I fucking hate it.

3) I use an old Ericsson mobile phone handset, non-colour screen, no camera, no predictive texting, no fancy frills or fripperies... I've used it for years and would not swap it for any of the latest models even if I was paid to do so. This morning, whilst sending a text message, I realised I could key in numbers by just holding down the relevant key instead of scrolling through all the options attached to it. This discovery has actually really cheered me up: seriously, I thought I knew everything about this phone but the precious thing still delights and surprises me...

4) It's my birthday next week.

"Flight 553 to New York is now boarding at Gate Four. I repeat Flight 553 to New York is now boarding at Gate Four." Sara got up from her chair and headed for the gate. She handed her ticket to the attendant and started to board.

" SARA! WAIT!" she heard someone yell. Turning around she saw a very wet Grissom running towards her. It was a sight that almost made her chuckle.
" Sara you can't go" he panted as he reached her.
" And why not Grissom?" her cold eyes stared him down.
" Because I love you and I don't want to spend one single moment without you. Not even a second."

Make it stop. Please. Make. It. Stop.

Synopsis: The CSI group has dinner at Grissom's house. Shouldn't they know better after seeing his office?

Oh. Dear. God.

It's CSI fan fiction.

And, unsurprisingly, there is rather a lot of hurt /comfort pieces out there.

Oh. Wow.

This is going to be fun.

"Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go."
- Truman Capote

Because it is so beautiful and because it was the first holiday abroad we had together since 2003 and because I want to go back...

Venice photos

*sigh*

"A few years ago, I ran the London marathon. It seemed a good idea after about 6 pints of Guinness. And then I woke up and realised what I had committed myself to." - Jasper Carrott on running the London Marathon.

Big thumbs up to Boatie Flatmate for running the London Marathon last Sunday and raising £2k for RNIB. Well done! Taxloss and I spent the sunny day indulging in gentler exercise, walking from Mudchute to Greenwich via the Foot Tunnel and eventually chucking a frisbee around Greenwich Park with friends we haven't seen for a while until it started to get dark. And we got the DLR out there, zipping along part of the Marathon route and generally enjoying the ride as a sort of sightseeing / Marathon tour. We can also highly recommend the sausage hut near the Observatory in the park: the bacon sandwiches are, according to the previously faint and famished Taxloss, "lifesaving."

Does anyone have any useful frisbee tips? I seem to only know one which is "duck" - and that's rubbish. Handy hints, advice and mockery in the usual place, cheers very much.

"Whatever you felt while you were here and whatever you feel about it now, your time at New Hall changed you. The people you met here, the things you did here, these things changed you and made you the person you are now. And I'm so very proud of us all, and pleased to see so many of us together again, in the place where it all began..." from the New Hall JCR president (1998-2001), during the MA dinner speech.

I now have an extra set of letters after my name and all for the bargain price of £2.00! Of course, it's not a real MA but I'm allowed to say I have one and feel clever. It was great being back in Cambridge for the weekend, seeing all the old crowd and the college and the town again, especially in the gloroius spring weather. My folks were pleased as anything to come back and see me prance around in a black gown and white fur hood once again - reassuring them that the Cambridge experience truly never dies.

It was a mistake to offer wine at the pre-rehearsal, pre-ceremony reception. In fine New Hall tradition every girl grabbed as many glasses as possible and by the time we were all in our robes and going over the kneeling, fingers and Latin of the ceremony, we were all flushed, giggling and snorting at directions from the German Praelector: "Then I will give you the finger... please be careful not to give yourself the prick when adjusting the pins on your gowns...when you are kneeling to the Chancellor, your picture will be taken and though you may be modest and want to look down, please don't as most pictures look like the graduand is staring at the crotch."

We processed along the backs in rows of four and all sighed as one as the grand colleges came into view - and it was about 5.30pm so the light was cooling, casting a mellow and nostalgic glow on the sandy coloured buildings and the spring flowers scattered about. I couldn't have wished for better weather - it was almost unreal how perfect the light, temperature and season came together for the day.

After the ceremony, we walked back to college (uphill! in heels! still as exhausting as I remember...) and called a cab to take my weary folks to the station. Then I went on to the wine reception and MA dinner - the evening from this point on was raucous, high-spirited, affectionate and triumphant all at once. And we were all so hungry by the time food arrived, we ate everything and didn't complain (though I'm sure duck should be quite dark meat and not look, taste or smell like battery farm chicken...)

From pub to club to kebab van to the college room I had booked for the night then to bed with Former Flatmate A and Former Flatmate B asleep in a heap on my floor...

... then a slow, silent, painful breakfast the next morning, followed by a long walk through beautiful countryside to Grantchester where we spent the rest of the day sipping pints of Diet Coke and ginger beer in the spring sunshine before making the sleepy, cosy journey home.

Magical.

While I was re-living my three Cambridge years in the space of one evening, Taxloss was also indulging in nostalgia - of a sort. Go
here for the lowdown. Now, who fancies a game this weekend? I'll make hte hats if someone promises to bring the UV lamps...

And in other news, I met my bro for lunch today.

KkK says: god, that was so much cheese it's coming out of my eyes
HypatiaAve says: you had cheese in that omnlette too?
KkK says: cheese, mushrooms and ham
HypatiaAve says: can you even see the screen?
KkK says: if I squint really hard and imagine 'colours'

...

KkK says: it's an automated voice system, it worked surprisingly well until I had to confirm the final stage with 'yes' wher eit completely failed to recognise me shouting "YES, for fucks SAKE YES"
HypatiaAve says: ?
HypatiaAve says: why do you have to say yes? surely you wouldn't go through all that, get to the final stage and say "actually, now I've thought about it, no."
KkK says: precisely
KkK says: going to rest a little before trying again
KkK says: I felt an egg come back up from the grief
HypatiaAve says: oooh, two meals for the price of one.
KkK says: it's going to be 'unshelled'