pinch punch

a good day to end a rubbish month...

ah Tuesday. it's the new Sunday. i love Tuesday. and not just because it's not Monday.

keli came over today for a couple of hours to hang out. i had various bits of online business to attend to, so while i typed, we chatted with coffee and cantuccini, fetishising (see below), a quick dip and some lunch... and as i took my recycling bin down the drive for collection in the morning i realised it was actually warm. i wasn't wearing long sleeves. or a cardigan. the sun was not only shining, it was actually warm. summer day. finally. is the weather really going to turn a corner? it's much warmer tonight. still no cardigan. while the south of europe is scorched, we've been sodden. i love days like this. productive and yet relaxed in pace. i felt calm today. another corner turned. and yet excited. motivated. i feel the mojo again. optimism returning... a sense of being if not found, then certainly less lost... july feels like the longest month i can ever recall... a black hole. i am not sorry to see it go. for all it's lessons and moments of self discovery, they have come in dark waves. mining in fault lines. welcome august and all who sail in her. may you be green and creative, and depression free.

so, here is bits n bobs currently on the radar, that feel much more like sunshine than rain...

Musik Bits

...for that sweet sound...

a saving grace last month, BBC6Music. god bless 'em. a flippin amazing radio station. i'm loving having a DAB radio in the kitchen and one in my stereo system in the lounge. i've always had trouble with getting the beeb to work on my laptop so with digital radio in my possession at last, i've had six in the morning, six in the afternoon, six in the evening, six late into the night... wall to wall six. so much never before heard music. and stephen merchant's show (produced by my beautiful Joodles and yet bias aside) is one of the best. highly entertaining. sits up there with Jonathon Ross on Radio2 and Vernon Kay on One.
as i type, i'm listening to a beth orton live recording - glasto '99. i've never been sure if i connect with orton's vocals. and yet i'm loving every track. this is what i love about 6music - it's opening my ears to stuff i'd never otherwise listen to and i'm learning fast to trust their judgment.

if i can tear myself away, padraig, my love's been reccing loads of stuff in the KCRW archives. but for now music is my hot hot sex. i mean six.

::

full of woe it is not, ::thursday:: by asobi seksu has the same chord sequence as the breakdown in ::god bless mom:: by the frames, (well,certainly the live version from set list anyhow.) ewan, you've probably heard this but track it down if you haven't. i think you'll like.

::



lovely soul sister julie lee has a new album, ::take me out to hear the band::
i haven't yet worked out how to get a copy, (i'm not member of myspace so i can't see past her main page) but i suspect sarah or tom can tuck a copy or 5 in their bags as they pack for greenbelt. 3 lovely tracks on the her myspace. gorgeous album cover photo. interview here at the Tennessean website that's as lovely as she.

::

i am excitedly waiting for the morning i open my mail box and discover contained therein an order from Over The Rhine. i'm gonna pick up their new album, ::the trumpet child:: (details at that link and you can hear the whole thing for free) at greenbelt, but i have a six cd back catalogue order coming my way. thank the lord for the weak dollar. i have missed some of these albums since the great cd collection break up of 2005 and there's a couple i've always wanted. OTR are one of my must-sees at gb and i'm looking forward to an early dinner and then launching into festival with this show. it'll be amazing to be sharing the experience with some serious beloveds. what a way to begin.

the order:
till we have faces (1991)
patience (1992)
eve (1994)
good dog bad dog (original 1996 independent version)*
ohio - 2 cds (2003)
drunkard's prayer (2005)


*one of my favourite albums of all time. it should be one of yours. read why here.

::

a blink...

this may not mean much to many of you but this is a rather lovely professional blog from frank spotnitz at big light productions. stumbled upon this surfing for news of TXF2 and ending up spending an age in the archives. FS has always come across as a cool guy and has proactively maintained a great open relationship with 'philes online. many of the posts are letters from appreciative and enquiring fans of his various projects (incldg TXF and the lesser known but incredible Millennium, amongst others) his gracious and enthusiastic responses.

i like to think if CC is 'God' in TXF world, FS is kinda like the holy spirit.
i've kept dropping back to this blog as his tone is so damn nice and he's full of intruiging bits of insight.

unlike websites, given the reflective/personal nature of some blogs, and the desire of some folks at least initially to keep them fairly covert and just for RL friends, i've generally kept a policy of only blinking when it's been specified it's cool to do so, either in person or by mail. (if you have blog i've not blinked at and want me to, let me know) so, in that tradition, despite being a professional blog, i decided to show some manners and emailed frank at big light and cordially let him know of said policy, my intention to blink at him, conveyed i was enjoying his posts and wished him a good day, because well, it seemed like a nice thing to do. i got this back:

hello cary,

mr. spotnitz said it's fine to link our blog!

thanks for asking us first!

best to you

jana
Big Light Productions

see what i mean? nice folks these. so here's the frank spotnitz blink, with the approval of the man himself, and a permanent one's going in the sidebar since they were so good to bother replying when no doubt they've got more important things to do than being cordial.

::

Other bobs

you won't reroute the fruit...

This is Belfast Pride Week. the parade is on saturday (the 4th). i have visitors and doubt i'll be walking it this year. details are at that link if you want to show your support with your feet, on a day when Belfast looks at its brightest and best. protests were significantly more contained by police last year compared to 2005. let's hope the trend continues and the sun shines. belfast weather is not typically suited to outfits consisting of nothing more than DMs, lycra hotpants and fairy wings...

::

::jesus me wants for a sunbeam::

greenbelt07 - i've stuck in an atom feed on the side bar - i am led to believe we can optimistic about the weather (i'm still bringing wellies) and the festival is going ahead after nervous inquiries from 'belters given the racecourse's latest incarnation as a drinking water supply centre for flood devastated gloucestershire.

::

another stunning interview worth watching...

bill moyers interviews jonathan miller (from april last, when PBS started showing ::a brief history of disbelief::)
you can see ep 4 of the series and quite a few of ::the atheism tapes:: (a spin off series showing the full interviews he did for the other) on YouTube. [search jonathan miller disbelief]
it's stuff like this that makes we wish i hadn't given up tv. but it ain't all like this.

::

::inside::

keli brought the latest ed of Living Etc for us to fetishistically peruse. let's just call it a porn mag and leave it at that. featured interiors include the couple behind SixxDesign in New York. you can see their new york home here. Wow.

::outside::

i forget to take the camera out into the garden but i did remember to shoot a couple of frames while waiting on my espresso this morning...



::

social action on darfur

thanks to lee for doggedly refusing to stop sending reminders about the ongoing crisis in darfur. a major social voice on the ongoing crisis in darfur started in his department at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. incredible what a bit of student action can do. but much remains to be done. i'm committing myself to exploring every corner of this site over the next few days and then doing something. it is an indictment of our generation that this tragedy rolls on largely ignored. thank god some will not turn away...and colour me ashamed to call myself a global citizen...

genocide intervention network PLEASE VISIT!

::

yuuuuuum...

i was on dessert duty for team fury tonight. i provided my latest favourite: strawberries briefly marinated in balsamic vinegar and sugar served with a heavy dollop of marscapone. (i threw in blueberries and rasberries too.) this odd but ingenious combo came from jamie oliver via Paul. the strawbs work well in a salad too.

short on time, and having tasted it done the quick way last week chez paul i simply threw the balsamic and sugar liberally over the strawbs and let them sit for a few minutes and just served the marscapone straight from the tub. to do it proper, the recipe is this... i am assured when done like this it is sensational.

Strawberries marinated
in balsamic vinegar

YOU WILL NEED

(serves 4)

2-3 500g punnets strawberries

5 tbsp sugar 10 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 vanilla pod

400g/14oz mascarpone cheese

5 leaves of fresh mint or basil

1 When the strawberries taste pukka and are juicy like they should be, pinch off the stalks, place in a bowl and scatter generously with the sugar, followed by the balsamic vinegar.

2 Stir and allow to marinate for 2 hours.

3 Score the vanilla pod lengthways, remove seeds and mix these with the mascarpone cheese. Sweeten to taste with a little sugar.

4 Place a big blob of mascarpone on a plate covered with a generous heap of strawberries and the balsamic juice.

5 A scattering of finely sliced mint or basil will freshen it slightly.

Copyright 2003 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

enjoy...

LB,x

nip/tuck

well. it's done. a gazillion changes, edits, tweaks and re-edits later and i think i'll settle with this for a while. so, welcome to the new look journal.

right, off to bed i go. this was meant to be an early night. my sleep pattern's all outta whack. and it's after two.

LB,x

all is full of love

Sequoia (6.5 months) under trees and under canvas... this is one happy family...









colour me grinning...

LB,x

the weight of things

it's nearly five in the morning. i'm sitting quietly with a mug of tea just thinking...it's growing light and the wood pigeons are already filling the woods that surround the lawn with their chattering. i was on the phone for a few hours with my brother in long overdue conversation, and in the course of which he sent me to the bill moyers section of the PBS website. he has grown to be a big fan of this man and i can already see why.

ewan suggested i start by heading to the archive for Moyer's conversation from late april with jon stewart. so as soon as we said our goodbyes and he went to bed (may i remind you he is in Ontario and therefore 5 hours behind me) i stayed up and watched the programme.
it is quite remarkable - both insightful and sobering. Jon Stewart claims to be, 'just a comedian'; Moyers disagrees. i think it's fair to say their conversation proves Moyers right. this is intelligent and articulate deconstruction of politics under the Bush adminstration, the war in Iraq and the role of the American media. somehow, it is simultaneously gentle and incisive.

you can watch the interview by clicking here. it is so very worth it.

and then can i recommend this interview with Steve Earle from The Independent. thanks to JDD, and again ewan, for making sure i read this.
during tuesday i found myself writing a stream of meaty thoughts and emotions in response to this superb piece, but had to stop... for... well... frankly... weeping. for a whole load of reasons i think, but mostly, in a moment akin to something Stewart talks about with Moyers, that i have not felt in some time... a kind of grieving... not the isolated lonely grieving when it is your own loss you are lost in, and god knows i'm sick of being in that place...rather, a sadness that comes when you catch yourself feeling empathy with the inexorable suffering of others, a grief made stronger when accompanied by the guilt that one does not feel it everyday... perhaps because if you did, you'd 'be rocking back and forth in a ball' with no words. perhaps this why Buechner says, the gospel as tragedy is the silence of the nightly television news with the sound turned off.
this is not the first piece i have read about Earle's very personal perspective on the death penalty or on his experiences with addiction and living on the streets - i think i may have even posted one on these pages before. but as ever, it too is remarkable and sobering.

i'll come back to my thoughts tomorrow. i guess i mean later today.
now it's time to lie down and rest. my brother will be rising before me i'm sure.

Peace,

LB

stick him on my fantasy dinner party guest list

i want what this guy's on.

Jon: isn't that the trouble with your job [astrophysicist] - the unknowing?
Neil: that's not the trouble, that's the seduction.

beautiful. you could almost be talking to Pete Rollins.


LB

Bible Spoiler

Jonny just sent me this. You have been warned.

LB,x

theodrama, or, Believe the Lie

today, asides from being a little giddy after some serious surfing in pursuit of details of TXF2, which only goes to remind me how much will, and probably should be, kept under wraps, i'm giving time to greenbelt07 preparation .
of which i can't say much about. frustrating.

ikon's taken a policy of not giving anything away what's gonna happen at The God Delusion but needless to say, this is gonna look, sound and feel NOTHING like Fundamentalism at gb06. i can tell you that much. the theosophy remains very much ikon and Pete Rollins keeps reminding me how radical some of what we've planned actually is. it seems so natural to collaborate with folks on the outer limits, i have a tendency to forget that some of what we're gonna do will push folks buttons.

last year was all about creating confrontation with austere, hard edged, black and white division - an aesthetic to match the message that we draw lines of division with our beliefs, and our fundamentalisms are dangerous. they make idols out of the other, not icons.

this year, with quite a transformation of aesthetic, we take things a step further...

Where does your faith lie?

if ::Fundamentalism:: was in part about a failure to deconstruct, then ::The God Delusion:: is perhaps both the natural follow-up and the total opposite... it's all about immersing ourselves in the creative act of deconstruction...it's very layered, there will be several provocative questions posed and some hopefully interesting visual metaphors to play and interact with... as ever, nothing is without symbolic intention however trivial or minor it may appear... will it be an act of worship? perhaps. perhaps. perhaps.

look at the time. must dash. i am so late.

Trust No One.

LB,x

did you love me or not?

after a much needed evening of nurturing companionship with willow, gail and beth, of food, chat and a dvd, this comes highly recommended:

a guide to recognizing your saints (2006)



based on writer/director dito monteil's memoirs and primarily set in 1986, this simple and painfilled depiction of a frightened young man unable to cope in, and desperate to escape from, a suffocating and hopeless environment filled with frenetic violence, explores the damage and loss that arises from our inability to express love, or indeed ourselves, particularly within the family. the story is told and shot in an original, innovative way with some astonishing acting, particularly from shia laBeouf and chazz palminteri, whose unflinching depictions of dito and his father are fraught and heartbreaking. no less brilliant is channing tatum, playing antonio, dito's volatile best friend and the victim of an abusive father. diane wiest is understatedly superb, as ever, and robert downey jnr as the emotionally scarred adult Dito - well, it seems this man can do no wrong these days.



it seems to me unlikely that i might find emotional resonance with a story set in the violent streets of Queens, NY, and yet the feleing conveyed is deeply affecting in this uncompromisingly honest film that dares to depict hurt and brokenness, particularly in men. between them, laBeouf and Downey display dito's fragility and frustration as they expose the pain that comes from desperately wanting to be heard, understood and loved by a parent and the honest truth that even if one escapes and survives, the emotional hurt of our past is a heavy burden. not once is this film cloying or saccharine, nor these two in their witness to vulnerability - dito is one of the most authentically sympathetic characters i've seen in a long time. perhaps because he and his story are honest.

it leaves me deeply mindful of the nurture that the human soul needs, from others and towards itself. that there is no loss of dignity in admitting we are so often broken and in need of healing. where there is grace, there is no shame. yet all too often we profoundly misunderstand where it is that our strength is to be found.

i hope i will not forget this anytime soon...

LB,x

mojo found? perhaps perhaps perhaps

a blast of just jack proving most helpful in relocating the mojo - he reminded me it's to be found with not so much an active searching as it is in (what lynne would most certainly define) a Zenlike shimmy... i think he's telling me the mojo is probably tucked up there on a shelf somewhere between basement jaxx and daft punk...or perhaps a little farther on between del amitri and the divine comedy, and you know, even if it doesn't help locate a missing mojo, the more ya shimmy the more ya smile... so colour me returned from the sanctuary of follicular pampering and intelligent conversation that is JL Morrison hair salon feeling a whole lot better and with strong encouragement to nourish myself inside and out and so i'm turning up the stereo with nothing less than a 4/4 rhythm...

sometime later...

well, some good tunes, including some fab mixes provided by jude in the last couple of years, and shimmying complete, the flat is looking a little tidier, a friend was at a neighbour's birthday BBQ in the garden and came to knock on my window and "serenade" me, ie say hello, which was one of those quirky i-feel-at-home moments, all the dishes are done, bins emptied, fuzzy things in fridge banished, i have eaten a hearty meal, had a cocktail, caught up with colbert and stewart, and finally got round to taking some photos, which my bro and others have repeatedly asked for...

speaking of my hair (see para 1), which despite a very good cut suffered somewhat in the past month from its own depression, manifested as a general listnessness (reminiscent of charlotte's depressed vagina) reflective of my own emotional and physical run down-ness, and not exactly enjoying regular dips in chlorine, it was treated today to a dose of Potion 9 - a leave-in treatment. such was the transformation from tired and dull to silky and perky, that i decided to follow the recommendation that i try using said product before i swim to protect my hair and thus purchase a bottle. alas! the stock was taken yesterday to the film set of city of ember, currently in production here in belfast. no fear! the salon know how to value their customers and staff were instructed to promptly contact their colleague on set and request a bottle be brought back at the next available opportunity for yours truly. so, should one go to see city of ember on release next year and find the tresses of bill murray, tim robbins, martin landau or indeed their co-stars momentarily look a little lacklustre, blame my locks. what they lack in actual celebrity of aforementioned film stars is compensated by a chuffed and choppy shine worthy of a red carpet. and for that they are gratitiudinal from root to tip. now if only the rest of me could feel as if it had just stepped out the salon...

::

right back at ya's
finally, all at once, here are the comments i never got round to posting in response...

paul the harbour- i never hear the orchestral theme from st elmo's fire without thinking of you friend.

ewan/shirley - forgive my omission of chas 'n' dave, who i suspect would actually make for a highly entertaining show. as for jimmy cricket. good lord. 'blast from the past' does not even begin to describe it. not sure i could cope without my wee bro there to share the nostaligafest so i may give that show a wide berth.

RD - thank you for kind words.

bananie - miss you too babe. but i continue, despite never having been there, to have austin, TX in the top 3 locations to escape to if i ever decide to be utterly rash and just up sticks and spontaneously relocate...

cheryl/shirley - we will see what we can do about a recital of ::Reclaiming Cunt:: in the beer tent. needless to say, it will probably have to preceded by drinking and dancing to get me in the mind... i won't make any promises, but it's not outside the realm of possibility if the mojo is firmly intact... speaking of dancing, i'm pulling together an iPod mix for the beer tent in the hopes the bar will gladly stick it on as a soundtrack for a girl's nite...

zippy ben - nice to see halfcaste blogging - hope you will continue...

gar - i will be proud to give 'em all an extra bear hug on your behalf amidst the canvas.

::

here's a couple of fotos of my living room... other interiors plus some daylight/outdoor shots to follow soon dependent on my remembering... click to see 'em bigga





keep rocking the kazbah,

LB,x

Hal - leluhjah

it's the summer season, which means team fury crew are spending tuesday nights watching movies, taking it in turns to pick a film. we've had the edukators (brother chris), everything is illuminated (padraig, my love), and this week the father brought us hal hartley's 1998 offering, the book of life.
i saw this on 31.12.99, with mark himself, the day on which the film is set and not since. but it left an indelible mark. consider by some to be the classic hartley this is very low budget, anything but mainstream, but full of wit and in a post 9/11 world there are some really affecting shots adding a whole other layer to the experience.
recommended if you like your films with a religious theme to get you thinking... provocative, some might say blasphemous, and amusing in turn.
martin donovan and pj harvey as jesus and magdalena - both have me suspending my disbelief in seconds, particularly donovan - the only actor to have depicted Christ and had me buy it instantly, probably because it's so understated in classic donovan fashion... and i think it's far easier to relate to a saviour in a Mulder suit than a long white flowing robe...

so for 63 minutes (a short one this), i was a believer again. i've yet to choose what to show but i'm leaning towards another donovan film, the little known but utterly affecting and superbly acted hollow reed (1996, channel four films), a disturbing depiction of child abuse, the pain of family breakdown and the rights of gay parents. not one to have you laughing but highly recommended. if not that, it'll have to be one of my top 5 of 2006, which will make for a difficult choice.

right, off to get my hair cut. hopefully cut away some of the continuing malaise that i just can't shake... if you see my mojo, lemme know... i just can't seem to remember where i put it...

an overdue hello and takk by the way to the lovely folks who've been leaving messages in the comments this past month... it has always left me gratitudinal. apologies for lack of personal repsonse. but it hasn't gone unnoticed...

i'll leave you with a smouldering slice of brooding grace...

LB,x

heaven in the ordinary

how much easier life would be if we were honest...
if rather than eating our words we expressed how we feel... risked conflict... owned rather than denied our truth...
so many things never said... when is it too late to say what we wish we had...? is there a statute of limitations on expression? how to learn to live with the unexpressed and the knowledge we are so often misunderstood by our making...

::

i'm using openzone wifi for the first time. am with john the prez sharing our stories, enjoying the return of the sunshine and witnessing more of a buzz on the avenue than there's been this past drenched month. i'm pretty sure we've had over 30 consecutive days with rain...

regardless of the weather, not much can surpass the news just in (the advantage of wifi on the streets) that my brother and his beautiful wife and daughter are coming to visit for the month of october. i can't believe i'm going to meet my neice. for all the shadows i feel still lingering around the edges of things,the sense that somewhere in these past few weeks i lost my mojo, this is a strong shaft of light as warm as the sun here on botanic avenue.

starting to get excited about GB07...over the rhine... dennison witmer... rosie thomas... dear sarah masen... billy bragg... iain archer... duke special... peterson toscano... and to know i will be surrounded by so many of the belfast/london/nashville posse... to feel the warmth of community amongst the canvas... so many beloveds in one place... so many faces to greet that i often don't get to see save for those precious few days in cheltenham... it remains a pilgrimage... my 15th consecutive year... it must be love...

the darkness that has at times overwhelmed and yet pervasively tinged my days of late has been keeping me from feeling excited about much. even the things i should feel really trippy about... opportunities to create and collaborate... ikon at gb... reservoir cats... i feel like the magic is just beyond my fingertips...

listening to a lot of Nico these days... seems to fit the mood...

i miss jayne... hello lovely...

ah, more lovely folks have appeared - time to engage in face to face connection... helps the light break through...

give peas a chance
LB,x

::

I've been out walking
I don't do too much talking
These days, these days.
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
And all the times I had the chance to.

I've stopped my rambling,
I don't do too much gambling
These days, these days.
These days I seem to think about
How all the changes came about my ways
And I wonder if I'll see another highway.

I had a lover,
I don't think I'll risk another
These days, these days.
And if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
It's just that I've been losing so long.
La la la la la, la la.

I've stopped my dreaming,
I won't do too much scheming
These days, these days.
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten.
Please don't confront me with my failures,
I had not forgotten them.

These Days, Nico.

turn and burn

the smell of clean sheets. the feel of a firm mattress.
since i last posted my bedroom has taken some shape. pictures remain to be hung, as do clothes, and there's a rug and some cushions and a lampshade to be procurred, but everything is in place and the room has found its form.
and so here i type. in bed. my bed.

and i can't help but think of Wendy (Mare Winningham) in st elmo's fire, a character i've identified with more and more with every passing year. and in particular i think of the conversation she has with billy on his last night in town and in her first place of her own. she tells him she got up in the middle of the night and made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. and it was her sandwich, in her apartment and it was the best tasting sandwich she ever had. there are several aspects of Wendy that i feel empathy with. but tonight it is independent Wendy, breaking out on her own and staking claim. making a space hers in cornflower blue.

::

this track got a mention before i think but here are the lyrics,
secret spell by tori amos. we used this as the closing track for TVM. musically it just sounded like a track with which to take a boa and a bow. lyrically, well, it wouldn't hurt to remember... after a hard couple of weeks battling depressive lows to help turn things around...


In one hand dreams a plenty
In her smile a secret spell
There have been disappointments
These she knows all too well

And you losing you
Was not a part of this plan
So
Jumps at three
tears at thirteen
Just turn you around for
Eighteen wheels in a high heel
Just turn you around
Sold a dream at twenty three
Turn you around
Hold out
You still got your secret spell

At the heart of the matter
Someone wove a secret spell
Mixed with girl not so peaceful
Angel and animal

But me losing you
Was not a part of this plan
So

Jumps at three
tears at thirteen
Just turn you around for
Eighteen wheels in a high heel
Just turn you around
Sold a dream at twenty three
Turn you around
Hold out
You still got your secret spell

::

went down to the lighting of the 12th bonfire on the lower newtonards road with lee, mark and willow. wanted to see just once what it's like up close. quite the experience. one i doubt i'll repeat. but still, glad i saw it all the same, however the conflicted the feelings...



LB,x

D is for deliveries

yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww!

we is connected. oh glory glory be. i am at home. and online. 24/7.

not only did my broadback hardware arrive and install first time (thank you BT), the base of my bed also arrived this morning too. tonight i will be surfing and sleeping in my new bed (thank you sofa, you've done well, it's not you it's me, i think we should start seeing other people)

well, after such an absence i am aware of all the things that have gone unmentioned. some of it nice, some of it depressed, some painful, some exciting.
willow, will try to write something "meaty" later today but, alas, right now my apartment is the site of some mess, nay, chaos. thanks to lack of a bed since i moved in, my bedroom has been home to boxes of stuff i couldn't quite be arsed to sort through. old momentoes, christmas decorations, cassette tapes, and an obscene amount of packaging to be recycled. with an ikon meeting here in a few hours and lots of stuff to do this week, including applying for jobs, there is much tidying to be done if there is to be room to move and i am to remain sane.

I WILL be back soon. with photos of various things, including my humble abode, a bonfire, and if i can get access to a scanner, TVM. i'll tidy up the side bar too.

recommended reading, especially for the girls:

special topics in calamity physics by marisha pessl (2006). like a cross between donna tart's a secret history and the little friend but much hipper and funnier and no less gripping. i spent the 12th "holiday" reading obsessively. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.

right, back to the big sort out.

hope this finds all well in blogosphere. i have a lot of catching up to do, haven;t read a single blog in 6 weeks. what have you all been up to i wonder.

LB,x

pitstop

hey all

i am alive, well, the show went amazingly, (thank you to all who came, we raised over £3,000 as far as i am aware), i remain in a universe of limited internet access. this will hopefully be rectified within 10 days.
until then, sporadic entries will continue.

LB,x