Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: The Orange Mocca-chip Frappuccino Years by Paul Howard

Ross is repeating first year for the third time when there's an embarrassing incident in town and his old pair, we're talking Dick Features and the stupid wagon, end up throwing him out of the house. For, like, nothing! Thank God that Fionn let him stay at his flat and JP got his Dad to give him a job and all the guys wanted to buy him beer, or else it might have been really awful. But, is Ross growing a conscience?

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Suzanna Clarke

A book of fairytales, rather than short stories. I was really pleased with myself when I described the book as being like the Brothers Grimm rewritten by a Victorian lady with a wicked sense of humour. I was a bit disappointed to see one of the reviews on the back of the book had described it as being like the Brothers Grimm by Jane Austen, so I wasn't as original as I had thought. Nonetheless, this was an absolutely FABULOUS book. I loved it. Read it.

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: The Teenage Dirtbag Years by Paul Howard

So, roysh, Ross has gone to college on a sports scholarship and he's still, like a total orsehole. More interested in booze and birds than studying. Unfortunately, UCD isn't as understanding as Castlerock College was about that. Anyway, while he's in America on the J1 for the summer, we find out that he slipped one to his best friend's, we're talking Christian's, mom. Will Christian find out? Not as funny as the first book, but still entertaining. Hasn't put me off reading the rest of them either.

After Dark by Haruki Murikami

Another weird and wonderful tale about a woman, a man and the people that their lives cross with in one night. As per usual, the story is beautifully crafted, nothing is resolved and yet everything is as it should be. Perhaps that's the key to Murikami's genius? Just like in real life, the loose ends don't get neatly tied away, but there are enough possibilities and potentialities that the story itself is enough and it doesn't need to be neatly boxed away.

I did it!

I've been threatening to do it in my head for a couple of days, but today I finally went and did my first 15 km run - that's just under 9 1/2 miles in old money - hooray! I went from Celbridge to Leixlip towards Maynooth and back to Celbridge. That's pretty far in anyone's map!

It took me slightly longer than my target of an hour and a half, but only by 4 minutes, so all in all I'm pretty proud of me.
Can I just mention that it was freezing cold this morning, with a blustery wind (that I was facing into for the whole 6 to 10 km points, which, incidentally, was all uphill.
I'll say it again - hooray! Go me!

Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: the Mis-education Years by Paul Howard

Oh! My! God! This book, loike, TOTALLY focking rocked, mon! The worst of it was, that Oi've actually spent the last four, loike, months actually troiying to teach these goys. Oi really, loike, enjoyed the story. It was SO funny. And Oh! My! God!, that Ross O'Carroll-Kelly dude, is loike, the biggest focking orsehole Oi have ever, loike, read.
Enough of the phonetics - you get the picture. Great fun. Would even consider reading the rest of them... High praise indeed!

Does that put the fear of God in you, Gerry?

I've been listening to too much radio, with the ad for GiftGrub where Mario whatshishead is ripping off Ben "Does that put the fear of God in you, Jackie Skelly?" Dunne. Anyway, it seemed like an apt opening line.

Gerry has decided that he is going to become the guardian of the physical health of the old Shantallians. He is trying to shame us all into getting into shape to run the Dublin marathon in 2009 and is dangling a crazy money fund before our greedy little eyes as some form of Carrickmacross-carrot.

There are a few problems with his crack-pot scheme. One is that Amo has been involved in athletics for years, is really fit and has already done the marathon (in 3 hours 45 minutes or something equally incredible), so she's pretty much guaranteed the prize, or at least the major share of it. James (aka Jim) is too busy playing happy families and walking the dog. According to Gerry though, James is wavering. Gerry thinks he can get him on board. Another problem is that my husband (or wuss-band as I must now call him, apparently) isn't really interested in engaging with the whole process. The boys may be calling him yellow, but he stands by his woeful tale of shinsplints. Ow.

Suzanne has agreed to participate. So has Amo, but then of course she would, seeing as she's most likely to win. Gerry's got to because it was all his crazy idea. And I'm in. But I've got a sneaky plan.

I'm going to do the marathon in 2008. Ha! Training is in full swing. My first test will be in April when I do the half-marathon in Connemara. I'm reliably informed that it's a demon. The last three miles are all uphill. I figure that if I can manage that, I'll be good for the full jobbie in October.

I'm up to 12.5km, 3 times a week. This week, I'm going to bring it up to 15km, which is three-quarters of the distance of a half-marathon.

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.