life

Bank holidays

April 14, 2006

The weather forecast said there would be sunshine from 10am this morning. The weather forecast was four hours out, but finally, the cloud has cleared and the warm rays of the sun are making the new Arsenal stadium glint like a, er, big new stadium in the distance. It's Good Friday today. Most normal people […]

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On a mission

April 7, 2006

Adidas have reissued the Gazelle. I have a pair of Campus which are over a decade old and which were still serving me well until Christmas in Brugge when one started to leak. I loved them, and the Gazelle is a very similar design. I am on a mission to find a pair. Right now. […]

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Goodbye, Cleo

April 3, 2006

My darling Cleo died on Friday after a short illness. She is already missed.

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Fooled

March 28, 2006

The clocks have gone forward. I've got that strange, dislocated seasonal jetlag feeling. The sun is only just now going down, and it's 7.30pm. It feels like 4pm instead. I suppose I should go home and get some dinner. Or alternatively, I could enjoy the high-speed wifi here at Stanhope whilst I still can, and […]

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The pain of dial-up

March 24, 2006

I'd forgotten what it was like. No, really. I'd totally forgotten. You click a link. You wait. The browser pane goes white. You wait. You wait. You wait. The title comes up at the top of the window. The progress bar has hardly moved. You wait. Skeletons of graphics appear, outlining where the images will […]

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Disembagulating

March 20, 2006

Slowly, the floor in our lounge is being revealed. Books are on shelves, clothes are in drawers and hanging in wardrobes. Food is in fridge, crockery is in cupboards (both plates, both bowls, both cups, both glasses), cutlery is… erm, not in a drawer. For some strange reason, the designers of our kitchen decided that […]

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Moved!

March 19, 2006

Done. Phew. It was a long day yesterday, but we managed to get all our stuff from Euston to Islington without too much pain. The flat wasn't as clean as I would have liked, so I spent much of the afternoon scrubbing the skirting boards and floors in our bedroom, which were filthy. Will have […]

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And again with the no wifi

March 17, 2006

Just sitting in the new flat*, waiting for the agent to come back with a second set of keys. Can't wait to get moved in tomorrow, to get all of our stuff here, if not unpacked. Of course, there's no broadband yet, so no wifi, so no answering emails late at night or any of […]

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Yay! We have a flat!

March 14, 2006

I didn't want to blog about this before it was all confirmed, in case somehow I jinxed the whole thing, but T'Other and I have located somewhere to live, and will be moving in on Saturday. I just got a phone call from the agent now, and we're all set. We're going to be living, […]

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The God of Petty Annoyances

March 6, 2006

Somehow, just recently, I pissed off the God of Petty Annoyances, whom I think may also be the Patron Saint of Yappy Type Dogs. Regardless, he now appears to be taking things out on me. Recent petty annoyances include: Wearing the wrong socks with a pair of boots that have for years been very comfortable, […]

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Shiteholes and shoeboxes

March 5, 2006

The first weekend of house-hunting is over, with no success. That in itself is no surprise – I would have felt a bit suspicious if the first place we'd looked at had been wonderful. Instead, the first place we looked at was in a really shitty neighbourhood. Everyone had said 'Oh, bits of Hoxton are […]

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Less blarney, more blimey

March 3, 2006

Just sitting in the airport at Dublin, waiting for my flight back to London*. Wifi seems to be non-functional, which is a shame, as it's ubiquitous throughout the airport, it's just ubiquitously crap. I came over to see the guys from Digital Rights Ireland, and to give a lecture at Trinity College as part of […]

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Get that yurt out of here

March 3, 2006

Five properties lined up for viewing on the weekend, variously in the Hoxton/Old Street area, Highgate, Notting Hill and Kings Cross areas. We shall see what we shall see. I have been dreading this bit. Flat hunting in the UK has never been anything other than misery for me. Horrible landlords who rip you off, […]

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Eurgh, the jetlag

February 21, 2006

I've travelled quite a bit to the US over the last two years, usually for work-related reason – conferences, meetings and such – with a bit of holiday thrown in if I'm lucky. The last trip, to DC, was the other way round. It was definitely mostly holiday with just a few token meetings to […]

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Little videos

February 19, 2006

I often forget that my digital camera also takes video, but for once, whilst at Washington Zoo, I remembered. You can't really catch the frolicking of otters in a still photograph, it just doesn't work. Equally, the skates were much more fun moving, as was the turtle. So, here for your delectation are a few […]

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