Soooooo hot

So hot today (see the shiny face) that of course the cat wants to sit on me and purr for hours. Furry hot cat... just what you want when it's over 25 degrees :)

Played our last second team match on Monday, and we won 20-4, which guarantees that we win the league and get promoted. Yay!!! Alice and I only dropped two sets in the whole league, so we're feeling pretty good.

Back down to earth last night when we were asked to step in and play for the first team in their last match. We played at Campden Hill, which is a fantastic club in Holland Park (you can imagine the swankiness... and the waiting list to join), and their team was REALLY good. We got spanked 24-0, and my only consolation was that Alice and I actually managed to get more games than the other two first team couples (12 for us, 10 and 6 for them - sheesh).

A day with no matches today so I even got to have a non-miniscule lunch (yummy bread and cheese and serrano ham and sunblushed tomatoes) from the deli, and a large glass of wine. 

Trying to write a chapter for a book on 'pop culture responses to 9/11'... but it's hard to think about it when it's so sunny outside :) My chapter is on Ani DiFranco's song/poem 'Self Evident' as feminist pop culture response. 

Simon's Cat

Stolen from Riccardo's blog today, but EVERYONE needs to see these. Especially anyone with a cat. New best thing ever.

Kitten much improved

Well, in terms of her fur growing back etc. as you can see. Not so much in terms of intelligence ("they'll never see me here, disguised as a book...")

Red Sky At Night

From my garden last night. Pretty cool.

choking on my breakfast

yes, the second part of Dr Horrible was that funny. Go and watch it immediately, if not sooner.

Turning the Tables

If you have access to a colour printer, here's a small piece of activism you can do easily. Print this out, and cover your local/commuting rag with it. Designed to go over the Metro (shudder) on the tube, but obviously the Sun or the Sport... or, well, most of them...could do with it too. 

Thanks to nomorepornonlondontransport for an awesome design.

yay!!

Hurrah, it's working now!

Dr Horrible Sing A Long Blog

I was so excited about this, and Part 1 is now live. But we can't watch it because we're not in the US! That sucks, big time :(

How We Used To Live

Does anyone remember the 'educational programme' of the same name? We used to watch it in school. Clearly inspired by this, I wrote this as a young teenager, and have just found it while looking for something else. I include it, not to prove I was a precocious and pretentious child, though of course I was, but in case it brings up the same nostalgic feelings for anyone else.

***

How We Used To Live

We used to put the numbers in the formula,
in place of the letters, and cancel out the brackets
to get a solution.

We used to set up the apparatus,
as shown in the diagram, and get the results
to prove our predictions

We used to be given a number,
either one or two,
to decide whose side we would be on

We used to write yes/no questions
with appropriate boxes for ticking
to find out if our loves loved us

We used to be given cuddles and plasters
and magic pink cream
to stop our wounds hurting

We used to want to grow out of it all

***

Operation: Kitten

Yoko was spayed yesterday. She was so good at the vet's, and when she came home, with a letter saying 'Yoko will be quieter than normal as she has had an anaesthetic', she defied all expectations by bouncing around as usual, albeit in a slightly drunk manner for the first five minutes. Bad news: the *second* she came round from the op, she tried to bite her stitches, and her prize for that is that she has to wear an Elizabethan collar for ten days until the stitches come out. You can see for yourself how impressed she is with that idea. She has spent HOURS trying to pull, push and scratch it off. Dumb yet determined, that's my cat.

Little Britain

Publication now live! Check my publications link on the left...

I'd love thoughts and feedback if you have a spare half hour to read it sometime :)

Guardian article

If you only read one piece of analysis or comment today, let it be this fantastic article by Kira Cochrane on the backlash against feminism. My favourite part is when she points out that the three main charities supporting women who have experienced sexual and domestic violence receive less (COMBINED) than the Fucking. Donkey. Sanctuary. I know we like our animals in this country, but COME ON! Do we really value women less than aging donkeys? Really?