quiet long weekends (cough)

with sinus colds. quiet reading in the clouds of contessa's oasis on the hill.
transfixed by the seething crowds of oxford circus, floating through on the top deck.
slow walks from the library to boots and home, internet chats and movie nights.
my lips moving slowly to cortazar, relearning spanish vowels and tounge movements.

there's a lot of good green reading these days, the economist on the democrats, the independent on personal carbon allowances, english climate change legislation.

i leave my monday economics evening lecture 1/2 an hour early every time. it's all i can stand. i've read the textbooks, and just finished freidmans 'the world is flat' and listening to an unrational lecture on the impact of globalisation on city economics...well, i could be watching paint dry.

receipe for a good meal

lamb
-12 hours: cut small slits all around sholder and leg, insert fresh rosemary and chopped raw garlic. rub meat with a mixture of: rapeseed oil, pepper, salt, fresh taragon, thyme and fennel seeds.
marinate.
-3 hours: stick in cooker(oven), propped off dish with onion halves. (a metal rack works, but then you don't get to eat the fat-covered onions later)
-.5 hours: take out, sit meat to cool/juice. make gravy from drippings, flour, leftover vegetable stock (see below).
0 - have man cut meat. (avoid looking incompetent in front of guests)

Veg
Braise carrots - cover entirely with veg stock, butter, pepper and tarragon, simmer uncovered until deliciously soft and the stock is reduced to almost nothing.
Braise leeks - simmer covered in veg stock, salt and thyme. about 10 minutes. drain, drizzle with basalmic and serve with pepper.

Mash
chop fresh rosemary, mix with melted butter, let sit.
cut potatoes into equal sized pieces, boil in salted water until they fall apart at the touch of a fork, drain.
mash with rosemary butter, fresh cream, more butter, milk, salt to taste.

living in a dreamworld

running from the police and the ganglords in odd african nations. little houses full of snobby rich people drinking wine on steep hillsides. big hotels filled with roses, broacade and good looking men. eating quesadillas in a hut on a seashore. sharing a tent shaped house made of steel with my brother, his friend, my cousin mark, and hunter in northern oregon - looking out through our glass walls through the pine trees towards the sea. my feet playing in mud. giant beds of cream linen and birchwood....

dream flashbacks stun me throughout the days.

the year's shaping up

Feb 11 -15: Turin, Torino, Italy with MSc programme. Study Tour.
Late Feb: Long weekend skiing, or visiting A in Kuwait.
Late March: Term Work Due.
By May: I'll be bringing in enough sales to meet summer promotions.
Late May: Potential cycle tour with colleages, Paris-Milan. 6 days, 600 miles.
June: Term Work Due.
July: Kate's possibly back in London.
Mid Aug: Long weekend cycling in Scotland.
Late Aug: Mel moves to London.
Reading Weeek inNov: Long India Trip - Bombay + ?
Early December: Term Work Due.

relaxing weekends

walks in the sun, snoozing late, pancakes for breakfast and laughter for lunch
chatty nights over wine and books with friends
bits of reading for school, bits of work for work
8 mile runs and late night cycles
no pressure, ever.

battle school

with the wind,
the trees fall, the trains slow, the buses crowd, and the streets congest
standstill traffic, from trafalgar to hammersmith.
the cars sheild me from the worst downdrafts as a I race past
dodging rear view mirrors, weaving lanes, avoiding scooters;
medians, empty pavements, roads closed to traffic,
those 12 inches between a 60 seater coach and a cab
they're all left to me
slower than usual, gliding high on the clips (visibility)
but damn, didn't they all wish they were as fast as me

affective disorders

i'm struggling with the lack of sunlight, endless cloud cover and rain,
so here's my list of things that made me happy today.
calling in late for an extra hour of sleep
looking at funny commercials on the internet
reading more of schismatrix
reading schismatrix in the sun inside pret a manger
chat tea latte delivered to my desk by colleague at 3pm
K&D chilling me through the afternoon
tom's hilarious math cartoon link
listening to contessa's wonderful plans
skyping with an old ice bound texas friend
finishing schismatrix

manic subsiding

12 hours of sleep, a lazy 30mile ride, a morning to sort through the disaster zone of my room, an afternoon to write thank you notes. 6k runs, dinners with friends, work brought home to do in the warmth of my room. the first full day of sun in 16 days.

my cycle partner collyn got married yesterday in a little civil ceremony, then drinks at a pub later. without the ceremony, the scale of her personal decision takes on new proportions. the first of my close friends, and it begins....

trying my hand cooking for the first time in months. just roasted parsnips, but after so many sandwiches, cold leftovers or flatmate meals.....

the backlog of work will be waiting on monday, but now my personal life is up to date

sun

ok, so the day i got back (30th) was nice and sunny
since then it's been grey, overcast & rainy for weeks.

but now, at noon, after a night of wind and rain and yet another grey drab and wet morning, someone turned the sun on full. the skies are totally clear, weak crystal blue.
it's hurting my eyes.

have insurance, will fly...

this morning's ride (straight) to work;
my upper thighs are burning (lost muscle there while running),
i'm looking at my feet to make sure i'm shifting (its that smooth),
and i shave 8 minutes off, even in late morning congestion
(the kensington high street standstill).

bike bike bike is here

gotta finish this essay, but she's waiting on the stairs....i can see the cold air of richmond park at 7am coming back...

Specialized Allez Sport Triple 2006.

tiagra transmission, comfortable frame, super light (the lock weighs more than her), and gorgeous.

jaywalking

at 4, i was going to get back to working on my essay. kitchen got cleaned. at 5, i opened up the computer. made tea. made toast. started thiking about bicycles. found a few online for a reasonable price. at 7, i started reading stuff i don't really need to read for the essay. it's 11, i'm going to do an hour's typing. promise.

new years 2007

IMG_2081
Originally uploaded by wonderwomanyank.

from waterloo bridge, with jen on my shoulders with the camera.

'researching' for essay...vintage Kunstler.

On the privitisation of public space in America..
"But imagine if America got involved in another war as unpopular as Vietnam, and the poitical temperature rose. Or if our dependence on cheap oil started to cause political problems. Amce Development might not be so tolerant about political rallies held around their phildoendron beds, or protest marchers interfering with sales the Pet-O-Rama shop. Where,then, are you going to have your public assembly? On the median strip of Insterste 87? (1993).

On the paradox of reality...
"A lot of my friends are readers of the The New Yorker. A year ago, they got so worked up they drove their SUVs downtown to march in a street protest against the war in Iraq. Connect the dots and you will discover how we have managed to develop the world's first near zero thought intellectual class." (2004).