Bath, Avon

Today I'm off to Bath for an afternoon of sightseeing and a stay in a nice hotel before a daylong workshop tomorrow for Agency. I've not been in 18 years and can't wait to try my new camera in a glorious place. Pictures soon.

But they're crepes...

Yesterday, Shrove Tuesday, was Pancake Day in the UK. They're not really pancakes (as Americans would know them). They're actually crèpes, but the English don't like to admit it. As a matter of fact, they get rather upset when one says 'Those ain't pancakes'. All day long they eat these crèpes, err, pancakes. It's a big thing here.

This pancake day custom goes back hundreds of years. 'Shriving' means being given penance - which everyone sought before Lent started. And, as it was the day before Lent, it was also the day they ate up any foods they weren't going to eat during Lent. Like meat and fat. Hence the French call it 'Fat Tuesday' or Mardi gras.

A few have observed that the rest of the world celebrates Mardi gras with carnival but we in the UK eat pancakes. They're an exciting lot, the English.

And now you know...

About meditation...

People have been asking about meditation. I'm a novice, having only been meditating for a few months. I started before I left Agency. I wasn't sleeping well and wasn't coping with the stress of the unknown. It's been when stress (and fear) threaten to overwhelm and I'm grateful now that I started. I sleep much more soundly, and the thought of not knowing what's next isn't paralysing me. Ialso think it's one of the reasons I've been able to stay off the alcohol during February. But there's still so much more to learn. I have difficulty maintaining 'focus' during meditation. My mind is prone to wandering. And I'm still learning to maintain posture - I tend to slump after 15 minutes...

I found Wildmind online. The Real Media lessons are free and is a great way to 'try out' meditation to see if one is really interested. I've focused so far on the Mindfulness and Lovingkindness lessons.

Lately

Watching Balderdash and Piffle. The BBC challenges the Oxford English Dictionary's commentary on a whole list of interesting (albeit British) words.

Letting Paul McKenna change my life.

Reading Memories of my melancholy whores

Laughing and cringing at The thick of it.

Listening to Patti Lupone kick ass in the new recording of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

Not drinking during the month of February. Wish me luck.

I won

Last Friday the Euromillions Lottery had an estimated jackpot of 105 million pounds.

I won. £7.40, but I still won. Ok, I spent £16 on tickets, but anyway ...

To be blunt

Hell yes, I'm rolling my eyes. It's not that I dislike James Blunt, it's just that I find the song irksome, and all of the tales about this posh upbringing (and his shagging his way around Sloane Square) make him seem as authentic as a white boy in dreadlocks.

It's today

According to Cardiff University, today is the most depressing day of the year. Here's the formula:

1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA
Where:
W: Weather
D: Debt
d: Money due in January pay
T: Time since Christmas
Q: Time since failed quit attempt
M: General motivational levels
NA: The need to take action

Of course, tomorrow night is Burns' Night so you've a reason for hitting the whiskey now.