Postcard of a Painting

End of January - the results are in...

2012-01-31T14:28:00.000Z

Okay, so the resolutions are underway, but how am I doing? Resolution 1 - Get fitter: I will do at least two exercise sessions a week Absolutely cracked this. Just gotta keep it up. Week is pretty much made up of Monday lunchtime - swimming (40 lengths in about 30 minutes), Monday evening - Zumba, Tuesday lunchtime - spinning, Wednesday lunchtime - spinning, Thursday lunchtime - Abs, Thursday

Thai China review - why would you choose this one?

2012-01-26T19:44:00.000Z

Sometimes using the most recent review in your advertorial isn't really the best idea. I know they want to make it look genuine and unedited, but really? See the alternatives: http://www.qype.co.uk/place/257480-Thai-China-Roker

Donna Disco

2012-01-20T15:59:00.000Z

First theatre review of 2012 was Donna Disco at Live Theatre. I love the Live Theatre: it's intimate enough to be able to see the plays properly, has a nice bar (always important) and has plenty of lovely eateries nearby. I enjoyed the play - it tells the story of a fourteen year old girl facing up to bullies, being a bit of an outcast, yet somehow being the most optimistic person around!

Misleading signage on beans shocker!

2012-01-18T15:13:00.000Z

To give them credit, buying any of the other products in the Discovery range in this offer at Sainsbury's would make this deal worthwhile. I wonder though, if you bought three tins of the refried beans, whether you'd be charged £4 or £2.85?

You couldn't do this with a Kindle!

2012-01-10T14:29:00.001Z

Aren't these sculpted books by artist Guy Laramee just amazing? I'm a little bit unhappy that books have been injured in this process - but I'll admit the results are astonishing! See more carvings: http://www.guylaramee.com/index.php?/biblios/text-1/

Butterflies and quearies?

2012-01-06T16:49:00.001Z

Belated Christmas gifts are always amazing. This joyous piece of craft came from Denis Denis of the murder bathroom . It looks lovely, all glittery and sparkly and well, butterfly-y. When you open it though, there are about a billion pins. Apparently it is suitable for anyone over 36 months. I dread to think what might happen when a 37 month old gets hold of it (let alone a 38 year old...).

Fitter, slimmer, blogger who enjoys a good book: my resolutions for 2012!

2012-01-05T13:40:00.002Z

Okay, so I've faffed about not making resolutions and instead creating blogs on what I did last year, so now, time to bite the bullet and actually decide what the hell I'm going to do in 2012. I've read and been thinking about Richard Wiseman's Blog Guide to keeping your New Year's Resolutions; it's no secret to friends that I think his approach to, well everything, is amazing. I'm currently

2011 Top 5 - that's out of 10 plays, 11 gigs, 4 comedians, and a mentalist!

2012-01-04T21:33:00.000Z

I started to write up a month by month review of what I did last year (this is over and above nights out with friends, holidays, art exhibitions, movies, and books), but I soon realised that this could become a very long post. So in the interests of reflection on 2011 (and brevity), what made it to my Top 5? So, my Top 5 in reverse order.... 5 - Sleep no More, McKittrick Hotel, Manhattan,

And a lie, Mr. Mulder, is most convincingly hidden between two truths

2012-01-01T15:11:00.000Z

Happy New Year! This is not a resolution blog entry. But I can exclusively reveal that one resolution might be to blog more, so it's a step in the right direction. Bollocks - I just made my second sentence into a lie by adding my third. Me and Mulder

Review of the year: how many resolutions did I keep?

2011-12-27T16:36:00.000Z

So back at the start of the year I set myself some top 10 'plans' for 2011... I rather prematurely did an update about two weeks later. The real test is now, a year on. 1. Improve my beauty regime - I must say I think I've done pretty well on this front. I've had some lapses but generally have followed a moisturise (if nothing else) regime fairly regularly. Origins have had a further £100 (or

Merry Christmas, I think

2011-12-22T12:48:00.000Z

I'm not entirely clear on what this advert in my local paper is trying to say. Surely they meant 'with compliments of the season' aka 'season's greetings', which clearly doesn't make sense when the sentence is completed by 'with our Christmas party menu'. And if they didn't mean that, did they mean 'complement', meaning 'complete the season with our Christmas menu'? This of course

The things kids say

2011-12-20T21:15:00.000Z

I am a cute baby but she is cold in the face of my cuteness. Before anyone gets carried away and thinks I've had a complete personality change and now want to have billions of babies before I'm 40, this post is purely for entertainment value. I am surrounded at work by people who are doing their bit in providing the sweet babies thing so I don't feel the need. However, one of the benefits of

The Keswick Reminder serve's up an error again

2011-12-06T13:39:00.000Z

In honour of the Aunt and Uncle being over from Keswick this weekend, let us turn to the Keswick Reminder for an apostrophe error. It's a plural! *sighs* Hey, buy me a subscription to the Reminder and I'll be as happy as can be!

Amazin' Savin's

2011-11-16T19:13:00.001Z

Bargain! Photo Credit: This photo was provided by the amazing Steve. Steve is brilliant. His photography skills know no bounds. Catch him on a bad day and he's still superb, catch him on a good day and woah, you won't know what's hit you. He is the most wonderful man I know. Don't you forget it. With glitter on top.

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December - my birthday that is...

2011-11-13T20:45:00.002Z

Okay it's not December, therefore it's not my birthday yet. But I have received my first birthday gift for this year. Some of you out there will disagree with the opening of the gift before the official date but as it was from Thrifty Gal from Body of a Geek Goddess: she of the continuous birthday giftage, (seriously one year she was getting presents up to a month before her next birthday year -

One, two Freddy's coming for you....

2011-11-05T14:26:00.003Z

*I am assuming that most people know the story of A Nightmare on Elm Street before I begin, if not, my comments might not make sense and may contain spoilers* I should start by saying that I have a big problem with movie remakes. I don’t really understand why any director or writer feels the need to re-engineer a perfectly good (in some cases iconic) film. I’ve heard the arguments about

Happy Hallowe'en!

2011-10-31T14:54:00.002Z

Okay, in my mental list of things to do on Hallowe'en, I'd probably include: 1. Watch a scary movie 2. Dress up as a spellbook* 3. Carve a a scary face into a pumpkin (or more traditionally up in the North East - a turnip - but boy do they stink when a lit candle is inside them) 4. Ignore trick or treaters by blacking out the glass in the door to look like I'm not in The one thing that I

Time travelling hairdressers

2011-10-27T13:46:00.001+01:00

Lucky I spotted this was in the pending pile for publishing otherwise the context would have been lost! No point mocking this piece of text come January 2012 is there? It was published in the August 2011 copy of some community newsletter for Sunderland I think.

House is back

2011-10-22T12:22:00.000+01:00

For all I love House and Hugh Laurie, these keyrings are just weird. I did find out that Hugh Laurie's favourite word is 'marsupial' and his least favourite is 'whatever'.

Jane of the week: Anaconda

2011-08-18T19:42:00.000+01:00

In honour of K visiting a clairvoyant tonight and revisiting the original Jane of the week, I bring you (fanfare sounds): Derek Anaconda for Derek Acorah.

No way!

2011-08-18T19:27:00.000+01:00

The Lonely Planet Guide must be a tad annoyed by the slight misquoting of their copy (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/norway) on a REALLY big advert in the London Underground.

Or maybe Handbag.com embarrasses itself again...?

2011-08-18T14:29:00.007+01:00

It's not like they've got much text to work with in the title of the email is it? Yet still they get it wrong. (Click image to increase the size - the error is in the subject line of the email - compared to the correct spelling in the main body of the email.)

Product discontinued due to bad grammar!

2011-08-10T17:22:00.000+01:00

I love that the Literary Gift Company would pull stock because of bad grammar. This is the way forward. Thanks to Thrifty Gal for this one - and good luck to her on her adventures into the world of freelance writing.

Say what you mean

2011-08-02T09:33:00.000+01:00

We received an e-mail today about some building work going on around our offices. "This is to accommodate the fixing of the manifestation to the glass at the front of reception on level one." I can't wait to see what demonic materialisation might be affixed to our windows. Maybe SamnDeannCas will show up?

Trying to loose weight for your summer holidays?

2011-08-01T14:41:00.003+01:00

I keep meaning to unsubscribe from handbag.com's mailing list. The stories are inane, celebrity gossip of the worst kind, but then the e-mail is always entertaining. I get to play spot the error when it arrives. Today's is a real pet hate of mine. Loose or lose. *sighs* You can read the handy tips for losing weight here: http://www.handbag.com/health/weight-loss/10-easy-weight-loss-tips-