Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka

Please don't think I'm being facetious when I say that this is a lighthearted tale about the funny side of illegal immigration and human trafficking. It sounds shallow, but that's what the story is about. The story itself is very entertaining: funny in spots and quite sad and poignant in others. But it glosses over some very serious issues (the conditions of illegal workers, selling young women into prostitution, exploitation, etc.). Why bother raising them in the context of the story if you're not planning to make some sort of relevant point about it? All in all, a good read but don't be expecting any serious social commentary. Not as accomplished as A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, imho.

Oooh! New Hair?

So, I got my hair cut off. It was annoying me. Also, since we'd cut David's hair to stop him from eating it, he'd taken to eating mine.
Ursula suggested that I put up before and after pics to showcase my new 'do, which would also go towards bringing up my blog total for the year.

I don't much like getting my photo taken. Not very photogenic, donchaknow. (This is why the only half decent photo of me gets used for everything, cf My Profile.)

So, I did what any sane and normal person would do... I Simpsonised myself! Those good folks at Simpsonize Me, who aren't using the interweb for a shameless marketing ploy on behalf of BurgerKing and the Simpsons movie, gave me a makeover. And here I am:

It's quite a good likeness, I'm told...
And a lot better looking than a photo!

Going metric

Further to the whole running thing - I'm really taking it seriously now. I've set myself an actual goal to do the marathon in 2008, rather than the wishy-washy 'maybe someday' line I've taken previously.
I'm trying really hard to go out 3 times a week now (definitely twice) and I'm up to 11 km (I've gone metric, that's around 7 miles in old money) in just over an hour. Sounds great to me!
There's a problem though. The marathon is 42 km (26 miles). At my current pace, I'm looking at a finishing time of 4 hours. That's crap. I'd be embarrassed. I'd probably not admit to doing the marathon at all if that was my time.
I've been running regularly since mid-September and I've been cranking it up every week or two since then but to be honest, I really don't see much of an improvement. I mean obviously I'm increasing my distances, but my pace doesn't seem to be getting any better. If there happens to be someone reading this with some useful tips or advice, please pass 'em on.

Up the ante

I was fiddling about with the layout of my blog this evening, rather than summarising an article for my college assignment, like I was supposed to be doing. (Conor, if you're reading this, I was working really, really hard all night and didn't get distracted even for a brief second.)

Anyway, I realised that my bloggage has been very sporadic lately. In fact, I noticed a pattern. In 2004 and 2006, when I was in full-time employment, I blogged quite regularly. About once a week, it appears. In 2005, when I was writing my master's thesis and then on maternity leave, I blogged five times. All year.

I spent most of 2007 on maternity leave also, but with the advent of wireless broadband at home, I have managed to keep the blog rate up to 24 posts (25 when you count this one) so far this year. Strangely, I have only posted 4 times (5 when you count this one) since going back to work and study. I am obviously incredibly busy now. (See, Con?!)

So, here's where the blog entry ties back to the title. Sort of. There are about 6 weeks left in 2007. 40-ish days. I am not going to try and blog every day because that is pointless and boring. But I will bring the total number of blogs up to 40 by the end of 2007. That is 15 more blogs (after this one) this year. I can do that easily if I post twice or three times a week. If I push it to four times (frice?) in each remaining week, I might even come close to matching the good-blog years.

We'll see. No point making it a chore, eh?

Afterall, I am really busy!

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I remember really enjoying The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night (same author for those who don't know), so I was expecting much the same here. And I wasn't disappointed. Funny, disturbing, funnily disturbing and disturbingly funny, sometimes all at the same time. It's great.
George has just retired. He thinks he might have cancer and as if the stress of that isn't enough, his daughter is getting married (again), his son is going to bring his boyfriend to the wedding (what will everyone think?), his wife is having an affair (with a former colleague) and to cap it all, he is having a nervous breakdown of his own.