There was no Roast last week. I am sorry. Consequently, these week things are going to be a little bit fatter than they have been lately – unlike me. You see, for these past few months I have been going to the gym three times a week and eating (slightly more) healthily like a good little girl. As a direct result of this, my back is a gazillion times better and I’ve lost 12.75 inches in total. That figure is mighty impressive till you find out that it is the total of six measurements (bust, waist, hips, thighs, calves, arms) but it still works out at 2 inches on average per section which I’m hellishly proud of even if no one else is! It doesn’t equate to the promised “dress size in six weeks” but then I don’t live on cloud cuckoo land, so I was never actually expecting that. Just being able to last all day without crippling lower back pain and to see the reemergence of arm muscles I haven’t seen since I did archery three times a week is reward enough. And motivation to keep going with what the instructor rather worryingly referred to as “phase 2” in my reassessment on Friday. Plus I “wibble less” when I walk, or so the Crazy Canal Man would have me believe, which has to be good in anyone’s book.

There are two downsides I can see heading looming on the healthy horizon – the first is that I’ve been down this road before. By summer 2005, after nearly a year of dedicated gym going and healthy eating, I was at a point I was very happy with. I wasn’t the ideal the media would have us believe is the only option, but I looked good for my body type which is always going to be sturdy rather than sylph. Then I stopped going and within a handful of months I was back to the beginning again. It’s rather demoralising to think that I’m one of those poor people who goes to seed easily and who has to constantly fight to stay in the same neighbourhood as ‘in shape’. The other downside is that already there is a tape-measurable decrease in my bust. Not that the damn things couldn’t do with being a bit less unwieldy, but I don’t want to go too far with that trend. I mean if nothing else it would mean that little old ladies no longer called me a shameless hussy.

And on that note, I think it’s time I stopped embarrassing myself even more than I normally do, and give you what you came here for:

It’s possible that the trend for potential employers to google applicants could be illegal. Whichever way the law cookie finally crumbles, if nothing else this illustrates that you can never be sure who’s reading what you write and put online. I’ve come to terms with that (more or less, with a few internal grumbles and reluctant self-moderation). Have you? My dad reads Bright Meadow. So does my boss. So does one guy who I secretly adore with all my heart. So do a few people who’ve made it clear they’d like it if I adored them. So, for that matter, does at least one person from a company I’d really like to work for. If I thought consciously that they (and the rest of you) are my audience all the time I’d probably be paralyzed and never blog again, but always in the back of my mind is the thought “oh crap, what’s that going to look like in one/two/three/ten years…”

The Golden Compass (good movie, great books) was released here this week. When I read the books the first time around I kinda missed out on the whole anti-establishment kick Pullman is on, but reading them a second time around it is kind of unmissable. The movie sticks fairly true to this message, for which I am grateful. I’m even more grateful that Pullman isn’t bowing to pressure and is publicly stating the books are about killing God.

The best picture, ever

For the Crazy Canal Man with his distressing tendency to drop things in the canal

Twitter on CSI

Ever wondered what the frell the difference is between an espresso, American, cappuccino and a flat white? Wonder no more.

I want one!

ProBlogger asked a good question the other week: how does your comment policy affect your readership? It got me thinking and will be a longer blog post in the near(ish) future. Till then, think on the question will you? I’d like some input 🙂

And you wonder why I no longer do long distance relationships?

If you’re intrigued as to what I was getting up to (in a blogging way at least) last week whilst I was locked out of Bright Meadow, go take a look at Bright Meadow 2. I’d also bookmark that site if I were you because it’s going to be where I decamp to when/if there are further problems with this domain. *sigh*

Want some free books? Keep an eye on the Book Depository throughout December. You could also do worse than going here for your normal book shopping needs with their decent prices and free shipping.

How do you defeat an angry moose? (Other than putting on a new episode of SG1 and feeding her chocolate?) Why, with Warcraft of course.

The government has pledged to do more for dyslexic children. Good. I will say that dyslexia isn’t just about reading/writing – it’s about memory and a totally different way of organising your mental world. I work with people who are a lot further down the dyslexic spectrum than I am and I am daily surprised by how things as simple as using non-white paper (yellow for preference – we have colourful paperwork now!) and a non-alphabetic filing system make all the difference. Plus it is about catching the signs early on. I can’t help but think how my life might have been different if mine was diagnosed when I younger, instead of my English teacher just saying when I was nine “her spelling does raise the eyebrows”, that my handwriting was shocking, my hand/eye coordination left a lot to be desired, my short-term memory was just plain crap, and I was incapable of telling left from right. All of those things are still true, I’ve just learnt to work my way round them. And it’s not that I can’t tell left from right exactly. I know which way is left and in my head I’m saying “left”, I just say “right” instead.

As if it wasn’t hard enough to think of things not to write for Bright Meadow, for the next two weeks I am going to be feeling guilty because I’m not guest blogging for Footsteps in the Mirror. If you don’t already read Edrei’s great blog, why not give it a whirl and be my cheerleaders?

The more I read about the Golden Compass, the more I’m surprised it ever actually became a movie!

Prince Caspian – hopefully they will have done a better job with Aslan in this movie, but I’m still looking forward to seeing how Hollywood has trampled over some childhood favourites 😉

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – this was a beautiful, inspirational, sad book. Here’s hoping the film does it justice.

Mad Money – I don’t think I can give this a pithy introduction. One for the DVD rental I think, but… could be good?

Persepolis – I linked to this a few weeks back, but the resolution was all patchy, making the subtitles unreadable. Have another look.

Man in the Chair

And that’s it. Hopefully I’ll still be at this domain next weekend. If I’m not, hightail it over to my backup

After last week’s fairly mammoth Roast, this weeks is small but perfectly formed (like myself).

So I started writing the Roast and made the mistake of starting with the news that Amazon has released it’s Kindle book reader. I got more than a little side tracked into a ten paragraph long rant about what I want from an digital book reader and realised that perhaps that is best left for a post all of its own. Something for y’all to look forward too.

My certificate from Edexcel arrived yesterday to formally prove that I got an A in both my English AS and English A level this summer. Go me. But it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that A-levels are going to be scrutinised for being too easy. No one should be able to get 100% in an exam, even me!

I’m guilty of it myself – thinking that because I have an internet connection and a handful of people read my blog, that I am a ‘writer’ (I do try to disabuse myself of the illusion on a regular basis, but somehow it keeps creeping back in) – RU Sirius asks is the Net good for Writers? by interviewing 10 of them. It makes interesting reading.

Because you might have missed the link, squirreled away as it was in the comments on last week’s roast (and if there was ever a reason to read comments, it’s the knowledge that you might be missing out on more links), I bring you stuff about stuff, another mighty fine tumblr, this time from jeremyet.

It is about getting excited about connections, rather than nervous

So my review of a Penguin Classic is live. Go comment 🙂

I don’t care how bad Van Helsing was – any sequel that has James Purefoy looking this dark and brooding has got to be good.

Cloverfield – looking good.

I have been taken to task this week for not writing more posts here at Bright Meadow. I refuse to feel guilty but I am still going to proffer up an excuse, for all the good it will do me. There is a fine line between when I can and cannot write – I can write when I am physically tired (some of my best stuff gets written then) but I cannot write when I am emotionally tired. I am very much the latter at the moment for reasons I will bore you with only if you buy me a pint or shoot me an email.

On the whole, this week has been remarkably un-eventful. Or was, until Moose went to leave the flat at lunch time and was met with a flood of biblical proportions. You see, we had a mammoth city-wide powercut in Southampton during the week and this must have fritzed the electro-magnet on the skylight above our front door. Only no one on the floor noticed till this morning when the storms over night caused it to open and lock in that position… Picture me knocking on doors to see if anyone had a step-ladder (no one); Moose balancing on a chair with a mop handle to try and force it shut (unsuccessful); and then me ringing every number we have for the property management to try and get someone to come out and close the bloody thing. As I type we’re waiting, with fingers crossed and the hall floor covered in newspapers, for the promised engineer to appear.

And on that positive note, on with the Roast!

The Guardian points to a recent study that shows we’re spending 12 hours a week online. I won’t embarrass myself by calculating how much time I spend online a week, but it is significantly more than that! I just love the stat that says 81% of people sent an email “at least once a month”… At work it is not unheard of for me to send at least one every five minutes!

Are you aware of your internet shopping rights?

Continuing a theme I have noticed that no Simpson sketch is without parallel in the great US of A, a man shoots himself whilst changing a tyre.

Since the Saints are in such financial difficulty at the moment, perhaps they should look to some American investment?

I’m not going to get into the whole debate on the issue, but I do find it interesting that UN panel has voted a moratorium on executions.

In a conversation with Lady P at work last week, she mentioned this Guardian article and mentioned how true she found it. She used Facebook etc but used them in a very limited fashion, mainly because she is not comfortable with the overlapping circles of her life knowing so much about her (she used her sister-in-law as an example). She asked how I sort it all out and keep the online/offline divide clear. My answer was that I really do not have that particular divide. I have a personal/professional divide to a certain degree, and there is a divide between public/private, but it isn’t overt – followers of Cas all over the web get a picture of my life that is enough to build up a fairly accurate picture of “me”, but there is stuff they will never know about. To the same extent, my friends ‘offline’ see different sides of me if they do/don’t read Bright Meadow. I couldn’t explain it coherently to Lady P and I’m not explaining it very well now, but in my head there is one line that is very clear: if you have my phone number or if you don’t have my phone number. Not having my phone number doesn’t mean I don’t like you, but it does mean you’re probably not one of the close circle of people I’ll turn to if/when I’m having a nervous breakdown!

I have a tumblog of my own but I don’t actively post to it, preferring instead to use it as a way non-RSS fiends can easily keep an eye on new stuff that I’ve posted from Flickr, Twitter and Bright Meadow. Tam on the other hand, has a kick-ass tumblog in the shape of espresso. I don’t know how she does it, but practically every entry is oozing eye-candy and gorgeousness. I had linked to seven different posts then figured it was just easier to direct you to the main page!

Continuing a long tradition of lazyness, why rant about something someone else has already ranted about? I will add that I don’t have a MySpace (and only look at it once in a blue moon to stalk/oggle the EDLO) . I am very reticent to add apps to my Facebook. I have a Flickr app that pulls in my Flickr photos so I don’t have to upload them two places, there is a Twitter app that pulls in my tweets, and I have a FluffFriend because it was a penguin and I just couldn’t resist! I did add SuperPoke and by god I wish I hadn’t – drunkenly throwing chickens at people is hardly classy behaviour! I use Facebook to connect to people. In fact, I had my very first instance of meeting someone down a club and just going “oh, find me on Facebook through X’s page” (where X was a mutual FoaF) just a few weeks back. And that’s pretty much it. So stop biting me people and asking me to answer questions!

And keeping with the mild Facebook theme of this Roast, Facebook now allows companies to create profiles. Like many others, I’m on the fence about this. Facebook is about people, my friends, not about big companies asking you to be their “fan”. On the other hand, it’s pretty much expected now for companies to have blogs and to interact to some degree with their clients. So I’ve become a fan of Penguin (yes, I know, predictable 😛 ) in order to see how this fan thing works out. I can think of worse ways to keep up with what new books are coming up, though I’m still reticent about how they’re starting to encroach on my places.

Damn it, that wasn’t exactly the coherent argument I was going for, but what can you expect whilst I’m waiting for Noah to come rescue me from the flood that is my front hall?!

It turns out I write soft porn. Rarely has a comment had me laughing so hard over my morning cup of tea, so the site is worthy of a link if only for that. But on top of that, Andy does take the time to link to a few of his top blogs. Two on the list stood out:
Random Acts Of Reality – a blog by an E.M.T working for the London Ambulance Service
and
Caroline Middlebrook’s piece on thanking your Stumblers. Now I don’t use StumbleUpon for no reason other than it just hasn’t fitted into my e-life (though never say never), but Caroline’s points can also be used towards your everyday readers and commenters. It can take thirty seconds to respond to a comment someone has left or to reply to an email with a simple “thank you”, but that response will garner you more good faith than you realise and will make you stand out.

Marvel Comics are putting their archives online. For a cost and I haven’t researched whether they are DRM’d or not (chances are they are) but still, this bodes well for more comics to go online. *puts on begging face* Fables, maybe?

I don’t as a rule trust book recommendations as they just have a tendency to disappoint. If I am going to go on recommendations, I tend to go with ones from people I know really well (who won’t be upset if I hate the book!) or from authors I quietly worship. It’s quite obvious that William Gibson fits into the latter category, but his write-up of Not Quite Dead certainly made me prick up my ears and add it to my wishlist. Well, Christmas is coming up and I struck gold with last years wildcard of I Capture The Castle…

We all love xkcd, right? So don’t be surprised if I turn up in a t-shirt.

Driving down the A303 used to be a major part of my childhood as it was the route to most of our holiday grounds and my grandparents. To this day I have strong affection for certain stretches of the road as they bring back happy memories. Though I’ve grown up with the landscape and have dragged the CCM around it a time or three, it’s always been nigh-on impossible to see the landscape as a whole beyond just Stonehenge itself, even though my finely tuned Archaeologists senses tell me it is so, and even harder to get it across as I do my best/worst as an impromptu tour guide. So bless Tom for slaving over a hot processor and bringing us this virtual rendering of the landscape.
(As an aside, there’s one particular part of the rendering where you look down the cursus where I had an “oooh!” moment and just knew that was a perfect setting for part of my story. Who said Archaeology had no relevance in the real world 😉 )

Turns out that Bright Meadow is worth $31,620 – who would pay that amount of money escapes me but it’s nice to know that I’ve not been wasting my time here. (Don’t start to lecture me on the invalidity of such calculations, I know that that figure is just pie in the sky. It’s just nice to dream).

On ‘paper’, the Amazon Kindle has most of what I’m looking for in an e-reader, but does it have to be so butt ugly?

Tired of the QWERTY layout? Why not switch of Dvorak? I will admit I’m tempted I just haven’t taken the plunge yet. If someone else wants to go there first, I’d appreciate it.

When Icons go to War

Just two movies caught my eye this week:
Persepolis
P.S. I Love You – I almost didn’t link to this till I heard giggles from Moose’s room the other day and it turned out she was appreciating Gerard Butler’s awful accent as much as I was.

And that is me once more done for the day. Enjoy. Don’t enjoy. It’s entirely up to you 🙂 Don’t forget that the comments field is always open – I know there’s stuff out there in on the Tubes that I’ve missed. Share it!