One Woman Goes To ....

Places of work

Today I found myself in two different office environments.

The first to borrow a term was an 'Open Source' Office. Name - Starbucks.

I was there killing time whilst a major tyre change took place . Wonder if Lewis Hamilton ever wishes pit stops ran to a skinny cappucino with hazlenut shot ....

But I was the only idler. Much business was taking place at the other desks - sorry tables.

Nearest to me - a couple of low key attire, high energy entrepreneur types with much dongling, googling and speed dialling followed by assertive management of receptionists going on.

At the table next to them a couple of rattle chewing, gurgling, romper suited chaps were enjoying themselves. Mission - sugar packet, destruction of.

Boys at work - either cutting deals or teeth.

But all happily and productivily coexisting.

The second office, all monochrome and anglepoise. Again very productive and full of grown up swishiness. If you are still into primary colours and plastic accessories and spitting out your food not numbers then we are not quite ready for you yet kind of atmosphere.

And yes I know it could never happen in the real life .....except of course it does- as witnessed above .... it just that it happens in a different package .

Interesting what we find acceptable and workable when it's on our terms.

TV or not TV

In the past 6 months I can recall watching about 4 things on my TV. An episode of Jamie's Dinners,one Strictly, one X-Factor and Wallace and Gromit on New Years Day.

There are bound to be a few I have forgotten about but say it's double that. It's still not very much.

I have done a bit more viewing sat on other people's sofas. Including at the moment 'Lipstick Jungle' which we have worked out you have to save up 3 of to watch in one go as that amounts to a normal amount of programme when you have fastforwarded through all the ad breaks.

So I am now thinking - do I actually need a TV other than to watch DVDs and therefore do I actually need a TV licence anymore ?

But what is stopping me is that I have this fear ( yes - irrational, but I won't know if it's real until it happens and then it will be too late ) that I will ditch my TV licence and then be seized by this overwhelming urge to watch TV and switch it on - just for a moment - and then will somehow morph into an illegal TV consuming couch potato.

What to do ?

So Long 2008

Playing it out with a song I loved listening to this year.

To all my friends and family - Thank you - you all make it better.

For real

The sun is out and we are walking across hard frosty countryside. Occasionally we are joined by an inquisitive robin, bobbing about on the ground beside us or hopping along the low lying branches and twigs to take a better look at us.

We all seem much the better for being liberated. Humans from indoors and Christmas overkill and the robin from the tweeness of being a Christmas card icon.

Open 365 days a year.

Today at 10am the water temperature was 28c ,the air temperature 7c. If I said it was as warming as chestnuts,roasting,open fires.... that wouldn't be strictly true.

However it does have its' very own particular brand of glow making.

And if you didn't quite make it today, well it's open tomorrow morning... and the day after... and the day after that....

How could I have forgotten.....

Winter Wonderland.

And seeing as the BBC allowed 3 couples to go through to the final of Strictly Come Dancing I am not going to eliminate one of my existing Top 5 but instead stretch it to incorporate a 6th.

Consider this the extra Satsuma hiding in the very toe of the Christmas stocking.

My Top 5 Christmas Songs

Wham. Last Christmas.

Fantasic song. Fantastic video. M&S,Twiggy,Take That etc take note - yes they may all have shaggy perms with the boys highlights out bleaching the girls - and yes those are white octagonal dinner plates that Shirley is putting out like a very conscientious dinner lady but this is THE winter house party that we all want to be invited to.

Mariah Carey. All I want for Christmas is you.

For the pure seasonal delight of Mariah artfully frolicking in the driven snow you will have to visit You Tube as the official video is not embeddable. However I offer you the song and the lyrics which will be very useful for making sure you are word and pitch perfect for Christmas Kareoke. Take note, you are really going to have to stretch to reach that high ' you ooh !' at 3.24.

Chris Rea. Driving home for Christmas.

I used to have a job which involved driving many thousands of miles a year. In a maroon Mondeo. The only time I felt the slightest hint of the romance of the open road was December time when this was playing on the radio.

Brenda Lee. Rockin' around the Christmas tree.

My unfullfilled ambition is to get to go to the 'Christmas Party Hop' and dance ' merrily in the new old fashioned wayyyyyyyy'.

Band Aid. Do they know it's Chrismas

Again great video. They all look so young. Younger than anyone in Band Aid 20 and yet they must all be the same age as the original singers - if not younger.

Smelling of.....

My hope is that no matter how bad or grim things get that we never have to go back to bath salts. That horrible grit . How could we have thought that was a good thing ?

My favourite fragrance for all things bathroom is Wild-Indigo from Molton Brown. Just a tiny bit just makes the whole world smell so much sweeter.

In the nick of time....

I may have got to the party late but at least I arrived before the Watney’s Red Barrel, cheese and pineapple sticks and fun size bags of Quiglets.

As I was such a Jeff Buckley-come-lately I am hardly in a postion to get snarky about the X factor version. However it’s probably not the one I would click to download .

Nor it would seem would Elton John. At the O2 on Saturday night (v good) he declared what he would rather eat than watch X factor and it wasn’t his hat, not surprising for a man so proud of his hair, I’m sure he doesn’t actually own any. (Just to make that clear – I mean hats not hair – he so owns his hair)

Bit surprised then when watching the recorded X factor final on Sunday morning to hear that come New Years Eve Alexandra will be at the O2 - joining Elton John on stage.

I guess it’s welcome to the world of show biz .

Possibly....

......in secret talks with Simon to take over from Danni ?